


Thrown for a Loop

by kaeda



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Dubious Science, Groundhog Day, M/M, Memory Loss, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Time Loop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-21 01:49:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 32,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17633792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaeda/pseuds/kaeda
Summary: For someone fluent in pop culture, it takes Cisco a breath too long to realize he’s stuck in his own Groundhog Day.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is divided into chapters for readability and dramatic tension, but it is NOT a wip! This fic is already complete and edited for continuity. I'll be posting a chapter every few days or so until the whole thing is up - total word count is somewhere around 32,000.
> 
> Where does this fit into the timeline? Your guess is as good as mine.
> 
> Warnings: age difference, memory loss. This fic gets explicit in later chapters. Lots of bad science, per the Flash's usual.
> 
> Finally, I hope someone appreciates the synchronicity in the fact that I'm posting the first part of this on actual Groundhog Day. When I realized the timing was going to line up, I was absolutely delighted.

On November 15th, Cisco woke to his phone blasting Toxic by Britney Spears, a total jam that nevertheless did not have the intended effect of getting him out of bed on time. He hit snooze and checked his phone blearily – 8:15am. In theory, working for a superhero team meant that he could go to work whenever he wanted, but in practice, sticking to a traditional schedule kept him a little saner, as miserable as it was. At least he was a metahuman who could instantaneously teleport everywhere – it seriously helped his commute. 

He dragged himself out of bed and into the shower, staring blearily at the tiles as he warmed up under the spray. His brain was still booting up, but the hot water helped, and by the time he breached around the corner from Jitters, he was feeling almost human. After waiting in an endless line, his first sip of a steaming Flash was just what he needed, the caffeine immediately jolting through his system and significantly lifting his mood.

He crept back into the alley behind Jitters and breached to S.T.A.R. Labs, feeling more alive and positively cheerful. They didn’t have any meta issues to deal with, there hadn’t been any traumatic vibes in days, and Cisco was a genuine superhero. Life was looking up.  

Upon his arrival, the breach room was empty, but he could hear the sound of voices in the distance and followed them into the speed lab, where Caitlin was sticking electrodes onto Barry’s bare chest. Iris watched over the proceedings, looking tired and concerned. The local NPR station emitted from the speakers of one of the computers, talking about protests in Opal City.

“What’s going on, guys?” Cisco asked brightly, walking over to stand next to Iris.

“Barry vibrated through the bed and the floor in his sleep,” Iris said sourly. “He landed in Mrs. Finkelstein’s apartment again, and she was _not_ happy about it.”

“I landed on her cat,” Barry said sheepishly. “The cat was not happy about it either.”

Cisco barked a laugh, and everyone turned to frown at him. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “You have to admit it’s a little funny.”

“It’s not funny,” Iris said. The bags under her eyes explained everything about her sour mood. “We have to figure out why this is happening. Barry’s been a speedster for over three years without any issues, so why now?" 

“I think it’s anxiety,” Caitlin mused. “But we’re going to do some tests, make sure his vitals are normal.”

Cisco patted Iris on the back. “If anyone can figure it out, it’s Caitlin,” he said, taking his cup of the Flash and leaving them to it. The coffee was still warm and he sipped it happily as he made his way to the workroom, ditching his coat and scarf on his office chair and booting up his computer. Just a normal day on Team Flash.

There was a grunt across the room. Cisco whirled around in his chair to see Harry asleep with his head on the worktable in the corner, hair sticking out in all directions and glasses placed neatly on the table by his side. The sound of Cisco’s entry must have woken him, because he propped his head up a moment later and opened one bleary eye to stare at Cisco.

“Morning, sleeping beauty,” Cisco said cheerfully.

“You are far, far too awake to talk to me right now,” Harry muttered. He put his head back down and his breathing evened out once more. Cisco watched him sleep for a moment, a small smile on his face. 

He shook himself out of it and got to work. Since things were quiet, he had gotten his hands on some PalmerTech schematics for technology that had never made it from Ray Palmer’s imagination into reality, and he was tinkering with them to try to come up with better weaponry. 

After an hour of drawing up plans, Harry shook himself awake again. “Ramon,” he said sleepily. “What time is it?” 

“10:30,” Cisco answered absent-mindedly, sticking his tongue out as he drew out a particularly intricate targeting mechanism for an improved stun gun. “You stay up all night working again?”

Harry lurched to his feet. “I couldn’t sleep.” He slowly made his way over to Cisco, standing far closer than was necessary to loom over Cisco’s shoulder and study his schematics. “You shouldn’t have the battery so close to the trigger,” he murmured, his voice still sleepy soft in Cisco’s ear. Cisco tried to ignore the chill that went down his spine as he felt Harry’s breath on the shell of his ear. He could smell him slightly, that weird Earth-2 cologne that he still used even after spending so much time on their own Earth.

“Are you calling my weapon unstable?” Cisco asked, finishing up targeting parameters and dropping his pen with a flourish. “Just for that, you get to be the one to test it.” 

“I’m honored,” Harry said dryly, straightening back up and moving his warmth away from Cisco. He didn’t go far though, moving to Cisco’s twice-reheated cup of the Flash and taking a big sip. He made a face. “Cold.”

“That’s what you get for trying to steal someone else’s coffee,” Cisco said smugly. “Go get your own Flash.” Even without facing Harry, he could feel his ears burning with the force of Harry’s glare, and he smiled despite himself.

Harry grumped his way out of the workshop and left Cisco to his own devices, but after adding a few more flourishes to the schematic of the stun gun, Cisco was bored. He got up and headed in the same direction as Harry, his feet carrying him back into the speed lab, where Harry was now standing with Caitlin, watching Barry vibrate at different frequencies.

Cisco could feel the vibrations in his teeth, but he walked over to Harry and Caitlin anyway, catching the tail end of their conversation.

“—think it’s anxiety related,” Caitlin said. “It’s not really surprising. We’re all under a significant amount of stress.”

“But why now?” Barry asked, stopping his vibrating to join the conversation. “It’s actually been quiet for the last month. The last meta we dealt with was that guy who could grow plants on cue, and he wasn’t even trying to create mayhem or take over the world.”

“Maybe you’re bored,” Cisco offered.

Everyone turned to look at him.

“I mean, our lives are normally Saving the World 24/7. We don’t even have time to process what happens or deal with our issues. But it’s been quiet, so maybe Barry’s mind is working through some things?” It wasn’t like Cisco was a psychologist, but it made a weird sort of sense. 

Caitlin was nodding. “That could be it,” she mused.

In the background, the drone of the radio picked up a bit more urgency. “ _The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for this afternoon starting at 2pm. The Central City region is expected to receive 6-12 inches of snow which may create hazardous driving conditions…”_

Caitlin turned up the sound. “They upgraded the warning,” she said. “This morning it was only supposed to be a winter storm watch and 4 inches of snow.”

As someone who breached from place to place and didn’t have to worry about snow, Cisco shrugged. Harry didn’t seem much bothered either considering he spent 90% of his time in one building, and Barry also seemed unconcerned. Caitlin sighed. “You can tell I’m the only one who has to drive home,” she said.

“Get Killer Frost behind the wheel,” Cisco suggested. “I bet she drives well in snow.”

“That sounds like a _terrible_ idea,” Caitlin replied. “If I’m going to bring out Killer Frost, I might as well have her fly me home with her ice powers and leave my car here.” 

After chatting for a few moments longer, Cisco and Harry made their way to the break room, where Harry heated a new pot of coffee and Cisco dug around in the fridge for something to snack on.

“Dude,” he said. “Someone ate my Lunchables.”

“Lunchables are disgusting,” Harry said in a derisive tone that could only mean one thing. Cisco closed the fridge and whirled to point at him angrily.

“Thief!”

“It’s not even enough for a lunch,” Harry added. “They should rebrand.”

“You literally eat enough Big Belly Burger to sustain a franchise all by yourself,” Cisco pointed out. “It’s not like you’re the connoisseur of fine dining.”

Harry poured coffee into a clean mug and inhaled deeply above it, his face relaxing into something that on another person could be described as contentment. Cisco stared, unable to tear his eyes away.

“Ramon,” Harry said, his tone of voice suggesting he’d spoken several times before Cisco had registered it. He snapped his fingers in front of Cisco’s face. “Did you just have a stroke?””

“Very funny,” said Cisco. “Mock a man who’s mourning his Lunchables.”

“If you must mourn a food product, at least pick one that’s edible,” Harry told him.

“First you eat my Lunchables and now you don’t respect my grief?” Cisco demanded in mock outrage. “Get out!” He pointed at the door. Harry gave him a pointed look before taking a noisy sip from his coffee and leaving.

The break room wasn’t nearly so enticing without Harry present, so Cisco abandoned his quest for a snack and returned to the workshop.

He started to put together a prototype of his stun gun, making slight alterations to the schematic as he went and coupling together the battery pack before lunchtime. Harry had vanished, but emerged sometime later looking more awake, his hair damp from the shower. Cisco tried very hard not to think about Harry in the shower and accidentally singed himself with a soldering iron.

“Ow!” he exclaimed, leading Harry to run over and pull his sleeve back from his arm before Cisco could protest. The burn was small but painful, already turning angry red. Harry’s hands on the soft skin of his arm were warm and firm, and Cisco felt his face heating under the scrutiny.

“You should be more careful,” Harry scolded, pulling burn cream out from their small first aid kit and smoothing it over Cisco’s aching skin. The pain faded into numbness thanks to the cream, and Cisco took in how close they were standing to one another, how easily he could lift his face and press his mouth against Harry’s, and he stepped back abruptly out of Harry’s reach.

Harry blinked. “Ramon,” he said, his voice slightly hoarse.

“I’m fine. Thank you.” Cisco could feel the awkwardness in the air, but he’d accepted long ago that his ridiculous feelings about Harry were unrequited and best ignored. 

He ate lunch with Caitlin and Iris, as far from Harry as possible.

“Seriously, it’s been far too quiet,” Iris said, staring into her tuna melt. “Did all of the metas in Central City go on vacation?”

“Maybe we’ve finally tracked all the evil ones down,” Caitlin suggested. “The ones left are people who aren’t going on rampages or robbing banks. You know, there are probably countless people in this city using small powers without us noticing every day because they’re not creating chaos.”

“Maybe,” said Cisco thoughtfully. Earlier, he’d breached downtown and picked up some sushi before the stores had all closed for the storm, and he used his chopsticks to shove an entire nigiri into his mouth.

A flash of red buzzed by them, wind blowing all the napkins from the table as Barry appeared in a chair next to Iris. “Hey babe,” he said, kissing her cheek fondly.

“Hi there,” she said, her mouth curving into a huge smile. Cisco made a face at Caitlin.

“Please,” said Caitlin. “I’ve been stuck in the break room with you and Harry. Don’t even start.”

Cisco started and looked from Caitlin to Barry and Iris, none of them seeming to think anything was up with her statement. “What do you mean?” he asked, noting the tension in his voice. Not so smooth, Ramon.

Caitlin smiled at him. “Nothing,” she said in a tone that implied that she’d meant everything. “Eat your sushi.”

Joe showed up as they were finishing lunch to try to convince Iris to leave S.T.A.R. Labs before the snow hit. “It’s supposed to be a bad one,” he told her. “I don’t want you driving in that.”

“If it gets really bad, Barry can run me home,” Iris told him.

“Is there even anything going on right now?” Joe asked, glancing around the cortex, which was pretty quiet. Even the dry erase boards were empty of writing - they truly were living through a lull in meta activity. “You all should take a half day. It’s going to be bad out there.”

Cisco raised his hand. “I teleport,” he said as though not everyone was aware of it. Joe sighed and massaged his temples.

“I run,” Barry added.

“You don’t run very well on ice,” Joe pointed out.

“I run better than cars drive on ice,” Barry countered.

“Plus, I will literally breach anyone home that I have to,” Cisco added. “Of all the people in Central City, we’re the least impacted by severe weather.”

“Why don’t you go make sure Cecile is safe?” Iris suggested softly, giving her dad a hug. “I’ll be fine here. I promise.”

Joe gave her a skeptical look, but hugged her back and returned to his car, off to go coddle Cecile and make sure they had enough salt for the driveway.

Deep in the cortex, they didn’t even register when the storm began. Iris pulled up the local news on TV later that afternoon to see a newscaster standing in the middle of giant snowflakes in the city’s largest park. “As you can see, the snow’s already coming down pretty hard, so stay off the roads if possible. Most local businesses have closed early due to the weather. We’re expecting about a foot of snow total. You can access local school closures at—“

Cisco glanced around at the faces of his team and smiled. The inside of S.T.A.R. Labs was warm and cozy, he had a mug of steaming coffee right in front of him courtesy of Harry, and his best friends were holed up with him during a snowstorm. There were worse places to be.

Suddenly, as though Cisco’s musing had willed it into being, an alarm began to ping. It was an alarm they hadn’t heard in weeks, and everyone jumped up at once to run over to the computer. Cisco’s metahuman app had detected a sighting.

“What the heck is a metahuman doing out in this?” asked Iris, gesturing at the snow on TV, already beginning to accumulate.

“It’s actually a perfect time to commit a crime, if you think about it,” Barry pointed out. “Emergency services are all tied up dealing with the snow.”

Harry seated himself in the computer chair to pull up the alert, Cisco leaning against the desk by his side, their heads bowed together to read the screen. “Robbery in progress in the theatre district,” he read aloud. “The woman in question seems to be able to make large objects appear at will, whatever that means.”

“Sounds like a fun power,” Iris mused as Barry flashed out and vanished with his suit. His voice came out over the speakers a moment later.

“Where in the theatre district?” he asked.

Cisco scanned the social media reports, glaring as Harry scrolled down before he was finished. “She’s at 5th and Pine,” Harry said. 

Cisco straightened. “We’d better go in as backup,” he said. Harry nodded and grabbed his pulse rifle, slinging it over his shoulder. Cisco breached home quickly, changed into his Vibe suit, and breached back into chaos.

“What’s wrong?” he asked as Iris shouted directions at Barry over the comm.

“Allen slipped,” Harry said dryly. “Which is what happens when you run at super speed on untreated surfaces during a blizzard.”

“Sounds like it’s our turn,” Cisco said, putting on his goggles. “Ready to rock?”

Harry patted the butt of his pulse rifle and nodded.

“Wait,” said Caitlin. “Neither of you are even wearing coats.”

They both turned and stared at her. “I can breach,” Cisco said as though this explained everything.

“That’s a _blizzard_ ,” Iris said, joining forces with Caitlin. “Put on a coat.”

Cisco exchanged a sour look with Harry but quickly breached down to the workshop to fetch his coat and scarf. For good measure, he also grabbed Harry the long black trench coat that was slung over one of the computer chairs before reappearing in the cortex. After they suited up (with Iris and Caitlin exchanging long-suffering looks), they were finally pronounced warmly dressed and Cisco opened a breach to 5th and Pine.

They stepped out into a winter wonderland.

There were already several inches of snow coating the ground, and big, fat snowflakes were falling rapidly through the air. Although they were in the center of the city, the streets were practically empty, with the occasional car making its way through the narrow unplowed roads. Everything was quiet around them, and the sun was just about setting, leaving the theatre district lit up by the thousands of Christmas lights that covered all of the trees in the vicinity. It was magical, like something out of a fairytale.

“It’s beautiful,” Cisco breathed.

Harry didn’t seem charmed. “Let’s find this meta and get out of here,” he snapped. “It’s cold.”

“Wow,” Cisco drawled. “Where’s your sense of romance?” Realizing what he’d said the moment the words left his mouth, he felt his face heat and was thankful that most of him was hidden beneath his woolen scarf and goggles.

A sound of muted screams could be heard in the silence, and Cisco pointed further down the block. He and Harry quietly made their way through the snow, Harry’s gun raised and Cisco ready to blast anyone necessary with a vibe.

“No meta attacks in weeks and this one chooses now?” Harry groused.

“What did the snow ever do to you?” Cisco asked, his smile hidden by his scarf.

“It’s unnecessary and makes everything worse,” Harry grumbled. “There’s no reason for it to exist.”

They rounded a corner to see an older woman bundled in a pink coat carrying a large bag that looked like it contained something rectangular, like a painting. She spotted them and stopped moving, watching them carefully.

Cisco didn’t want to assume that the only person on the street carrying a painting in a bag was a meta thief. Harry apparently had no qualms about making assumptions; he pointed his gun directly at the woman.

“Put the bag down,” he ordered.

She bared her teeth at them, the expression almost feral. “This is mine!” she said. “Rathburn thought he could keep it from me, but the joke’s on him!” 

“Great,” Cisco said. “We found the thief and she’s looney.”

Behind them, Barry skidded to a stop and went sprawling on his stomach across the snow. All three of them turned to watch as he accidentally created a face-down snow angel. “Ow,” he muttered into the ground.

Cisco knelt down and helped Barry back to standing. “Snow and speedsters don’t mix, huh?” he asked sympathetically.

The meta shook herself out of her distraction. “You can’t have it!” she said again. Suddenly, just like social media had reported, a wall appeared in between her and the three of them, short and made with bricks, the only thing around them not covered in snow.

“Wow,” said Cisco. “That’s trippy.”

Barry flashed and sped all three of them over the wall, dropping Cisco and Harry into the snow before tackling the meta. The two of them went sprawling across the icy sidewalk, the bag with the painting flying out of the meta’s hands and landing at Cisco’s feet.

Barry produced a pair of dampening cuffs and slapped them on the woman. “That was easy,” he said.

 _“You slipped on ice seven times, baby,”_ Iris said through the comm. “ _You’ve earned a serious backrub tonight.”_

“The rest of us are on this channel too!” Cisco protested loudly. “Do not need more details.”

He opened a breach back to S.T.A.R. Labs. Barry helped the meta woman up and guided her through it, Cisco and Harry following with the painting. They all stood together in the breach room, acclimating back to the warmth.

Cisco wrung snow out of his hair and yanked off his scarf. “It’s so _hot_ in here,” he groused. Harry smiled and took the bag from him, their gloved fingers brushing.

“Let’s see what we have here,” he said.

“Oh crap,” said Barry. Cisco and Harry looked up to see that the meta had somehow removed the power dampener. “It didn’t work on her powers, she just moved it away. Guys!”

“That’s mine,” she said, pointing at the bag and looking Harry straight in the eye. Harry smirked at her and tossed the bag to Cisco, who caught it with only a slight fumble.

“Ramon, get that out of here,” he said. Cisco nodded and immediately breached to the cortex where Iris and Caitlin were waiting. They stared at him as he held up the bag triumphantly, hoping Barry and Harry wouldn’t have too much trouble corralling this new meta (who still needed a nickname).

Cisco unzipped the bag with the painting. “Let’s see what’s worth all this trouble,” he said, reaching in and pulling out a backwards-facing canvas. He turned it over in his hands. The painting was a portrait of a handsome dark-skinned man, done in acrylic layers.

Cisco studied it, trying to figure out why it would be worth so much trouble. “What do you think—“ he began, about to hold the painting up to show Caitlin and Iris, when the man in the painting _moved._ The man’s brow furrowed and then he grinned, feral and creepy as hell.

“What the—?” Cisco asked as the world around him began to constrict, almost like it was shrinking—

* * *

Britney Spears woke Cisco up at 8:15 on the dot. He scrambled for his phone, quickly snoozing the alarm before lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. Something was tickling the back of his mind, something that didn’t feel right.

It was time for another day at work, though, and there would be time to figure out weird vibes. Cisco rolled himself out of bed and into the shower, breathing in the hot steam. When he ran his arm under the hot water, a sudden pain made him start. He pressed his finger into the skin, surprised to find it red and slightly puckered, like a burn. When had he burnt himself?

After quickly blow-drying his hair and getting dressed, breaching to Jitters seemed like a good idea since he was apparently injuring himself in his sleep now. Caffeine was the only solution. He waited in the endless line, trying to figure out why he still had a sense of something being off. When he finally reached the counter, he ordered a Flash, waited for his drink, and then ventured back into the cold, walking around the corner into the alley and breaching to S.T.A.R. Labs.

The breach room was quiet, but he could hear voices coming from the speed lab. Sipping on his hot Flash, he wandered over to see what was up, hoping the presence of his friends would stave off the sense that something was wrong. He found Caitlin, Iris, and Barry in the speed lab, Barry covered in electrodes. Déjà vu pinged in the back of Cisco’s mind, almost stronger than a memory.

“What’s up?” he asked, planting himself in the doorway and watching them. NPR played on Caitlin’s computer, informing them all about protests underway in Opal City.

“Barry vibrated through the bed and the floor in his sleep,” Iris said with a dour frown. “He landed in Mrs. Finkelstein’s apartment again, and she was _not_ happy about it.”

“I landed on her cat,” Barry said, scratching his head. “The cat was not happy about it either.”

Cisco stared at them, a chill going down his spine. “Isn’t this the second time you’ve landed on her cat?” he asked. “That poor kitty.”

Barry and Iris gave him an odd look, Barry shaking his head. “I’ve vibrated through the floor before,” he said, “but that time I landed on her knitting needles. Let me tell you, that _hurts_.”

“I could have sworn you’ve told me another story about landing on your neighbor’s cat,” Cisco said, the sense of déjà vu getting stronger.

Iris had deep bags under her eyes as she shook her head. “Trust me, if he’d landed on that cat before now, you definitely would remember it. I thought Mrs. Finkelstein was going to call the police.”

“There was a lot of screaming,” Barry said sheepishly. “Most of it was the cat.”

“Some of it was you,” Iris pointed out.

“Some of it was me,” Barry added with a hangdog expression. “We’ve got to fix this, Caitlin.”

“Barry’s been a speedster for over three years without any issues, so why is this happening now?” Iris asked. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“I think it’s anxiety,” Caitlin said, tapping one of the electrodes smartly. “But we’re going to do some tests, make sure his vitals are normal.”

Cisco felt like someone was walking across his grave. The skin-crawling feeling didn’t dissipate as he took his cup of the Flash and headed down to the workshop, shedding his coat and scarf and walking over to his desk. A slight vibration in the multiverse told him to look at the worktable by the corner, where he found Harry slumped in sleep, his hair sticking up and his glasses laid carefully by his side. 

Cisco walked over quietly so as not to disturb him. He started to reach out without thinking with an urge to pet Harry’s hair, but realized halfway through what he was doing and pulled his hand away quickly. He grasped Harry’s shoulder instead, shaking him slightly. He didn’t know why he wanted Harry to be awake, but the sense of wrongness was slowly driving him mad and he didn’t want to be in the workshop by himself. 

Harry made a snuffling noise and looked up blearily. “Ramon?” he asked, his voice hoarse. “Is something wrong?” Cisco’s discomfort must have been written across his face in Technicolor.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I think I had a bad vibe in my sleep.”

Harry blinked at him, clearly trying to get his mind into focus. “A bad vibe,” he said slowly. “What about?” He fumbled around him for his glasses, putting them on and fixing his gaze on the coffee in Cisco’s hand.

“I don’t quite remember, I think it was about today—“ Cisco began.  He squawked when Harry snatched the Flash out of his hand and took a giant gulp from it. “Hey, that’s mine!”

Harry smirked at him. “Don’t bring coffee so close to me if you don’t want me to drink it.”

Cisco tried to grab the cup back and put his hand on top of Harry’s instead. The world around him went blue.

He saw himself and Harry in the snow, Cisco wearing his Vibe goggles and Harry wearing a cozy knit hat with his gun slung over one shoulder. “It’s beautiful,” Vibe!Cisco breathed, and Harry turned and stared at him. “It is,” he agreed, and from the vantage point of the vibe, Cisco could see that Harry was looking at his other self’s face, not the snow. His heart skipped a beat, pounding steadily in his chest as Harry moved closer to other Cisco, grabbing his gloved hands and leaning in like he was going to kiss him—

The vibe vanished as though it had never existed, the workshop swimming back into focus. Harry was holding his hand, his face concerned. “Did you just vibe?” he asked. “What did you see?”

Cisco pulled his hand away, his face burning. Now even his vibes were making fun of his stupid crush on Harry. “Nothing important,” he lied. “My vibes are all off. First the bad vibe when I slept and now this.” He left his coffee with Harry and returned to his computer, booting it up and trying to get the image of Harry’s fond stare out of his mind before he fell even more stupidly in love with him.

“You should talk to Caitlin about your vibes,” Harry suggested, coming up behind him and placing the Jitters cup on the desk beside him, getting right in his space. “If something’s wrong, maybe she can help.”

“Barry vibrated through the floor again,” Cisco replied. “I’ll bug her later.” He pulled up the schematics he’d downloaded from PalmerTech, glancing over them and feeling like they weren’t as up to date as they should have been. He knew he’d made a modification to the targeting system on the stun gun, but for some reason, the new scans he’d uploaded hadn’t saved. Figured – it was shaping up to be that kind of day.

Harry hovered near his elbow, clearly concerned about him. He leaned over Cisco’s shoulder to study the schematics. “You had a more updated version,” he said. “You moved the power pack to a bad location.”

The memory pinged at Cisco’s subconscious. “I did,” he said. “The computer didn’t save it for some reason. Technology, man.” He shrugged. “Not a big deal, I can make new sketches.”

Harry shook his head like something was bothering him. “I need coffee,” he muttered. 

“You already stole mine,” Cisco pointed out.

“ _My own_ coffee,” Harry corrected, turning on heel and heading out of the workshop. Cisco let him go, getting diligently to work on restoring the lost modifications to the stun gun plans. 

The morning passed slowly; redoing his work was less interesting than doing it the first time around, especially since Harry failed to return from his coffee quest. Cisco finally pushed his way up from his workstation and wandered back down the hallway.

He found Harry leaning outside the break room, all long lines and black clothing. His hair was damp from a shower and he cradled a mug of coffee in one hand like precious treasure. When Cisco rounded the corner, Harry scrutinized him with narrowed eyes, like he was trying to figure out a puzzle.

“Ramon,” he said. “What time is it?”

Time? Cisco pulled his phone from his pocket. “10:35,” he told Harry, showing him the screen. Harry nodded and pushed off from the wall with one foot, heading for the speed lab. Cisco blinked, not sure what he was up to, and turned to follow.

Caitlin and Barry were still in the speed lab, Barry vibrating at various speeds and Caitlin monitoring stats on a tablet. “How are your tests going, Snow?” Harry asked.

“I’ve checked his vitals and had him vibrate at various speeds and phase through objects. Nothing seems to be wrong.” She frowned. “I think think it’s anxiety related. It’s not really surprising. We’re all under a significant amount of stress.”

Barry came to a stop in front of them. “But why now?” he asked. “It’s actually been quiet for the last month. The last meta we dealt with was that guy who could grow plants on cue, and he wasn’t even trying to create mayhem or take over the world.”

There was a buzzing in Cisco’s ears, like Barry was still vibrating but only Cisco could hear it. He winced and tried to ignore it. Harry moved closer to him, warmth radiating off of him as he loomed in Cisco’s space. One hand casually rested on Cisco’s shoulder like it wasn’t a big deal.

Cisco focused on ignoring the hot rush of adrenaline that Harry’s touch ignited in him. One thing at a time. What were they talking about? Oh yes, Barry’s problem.

“Maybe there’s not enough going on,” Cisco suggested. Barry and Caitlin both looked at him. Harry’s thumb absentmindedly stroked back and forth along the ridge of his shoulder, probably without Harry even realizing it; each touch sent shivers down Cisco’s spine, making it difficult to concentrate on the conversation at hand.

“What do you mean?” Barry asked, wrinkling his nose the way he did when he was particularly confused.

“He might be right,” Caitlin murmured. “We’re usually going 24/7 saving the world, but it’s been so quiet lately, maybe your brain is finally processing some of the things you’ve been through.”

A noise like a news alert cut through their thoughtful silence. “ _The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for this afternoon starting at 2pm. The Central City region is expected to receive 6-12 inches of snow which may create hazardous driving conditions…"_

Cisco felt all the blood drain from his face remembering his vibe from earlier, with him and Harry in the snow. He glanced at Harry, even though he knew Harry hadn’t known what he’d vibed, and found his face unreadable. His hand remained on his shoulder, warm and comforting, and Cisco found himself leaning into the touch. 

Caitlin walked over to the speakers and turned up the volume. “They upgraded the warning,” she said. “This morning it was only supposed to be a winter storm watch with 4 inches of snow.”

Cisco glanced around the room; nobody seemed particularly worried about snow except Cisco. “I didn’t even know we were due for snow today,” he said. “I breach. I don’t check the weather.”

Caitlin rolled her eyes expressively. “You can tell I’m the only one who has to drive home,” she said.

Cisco was about to suggest that she try transforming into Killer Frost when the ghost of a memory pinged at his subconscious, a vision of a small Killer Frost behind the wheel and Caitlin saying derisively, “ _that sounds like a_ terrible _idea.”_ There was the odd déjà vu again. Had he had a vibe dream about the entire day?

Cisco’s stomach growled audibly, and Harry finally, _finally_ removed his hand from his shoulder, clapping his shoulder once in camaraderie and saying “sounds like you could use something to eat, Ramon.”

“Definitely,” Cisco agreed. “Fantastic idea.” He spun around and headed for the break room, not realizing Harry was following him until he stopped in the doorway and felt Harry’s breath on his neck. He whirled around, his face against Harry’s neck. “Are you going to follow me all day?” he asked.

Harry looked chagrined. “Something’s wrong with your vibes,” he said. “Last time something was wrong with your vibes, you almost phased out of the universe.” He loomed into Cisco’s space, his eyes a luminous blue that took Cisco’s breath away. “You’re not phasing out of the universe today, Ramon,” he growled, almost making it sound like a threat.

Cisco took a step back with his hands up, trying to pretend that Harry’s growl hadn’t made him half-hard with arousal and thankful that his jeans were baggier than usual. “Okay, okay!” he said. “Fine, you can follow me if you care that much about my wellbeing.” He made a show of rolling his eyes and opened the fridge, digging through Caitlin’s hummus, Iris’s La Croix, and the ten pounds of hot dogs they kept around for Barry.

“Hey,” said Cisco. “Someone ate my Lunchables. Aren’t you my designated guard dog now? Go fetch.”

“Lunchables aren’t even real food,” Harry said derisively. Cisco bounced up to standing, eyes narrowed.

“That was stunningly defensive,” he replied, pointing at Harry with his finger inches from Harry’s nose. “Highly suspicious. You ate them, didn’t you?”

Harry broke into a lazy smirk. “You’ll never prove it in court,” he said.

“You can’t just steal other people’s food,” Cisco lectured, crowding into his space. He didn’t know what was going on with Harry that day, what had made him so much more loose and open, so touchy feely, but his attention was addicting. “I even wrote my name on those.”

“Again,” Harry said, “Lunchables aren’t real food. It’s hardly even a lunch. There’s fruit in there, eat some of that.”

Cisco was aghast. “Fruit! You steal the product of my hard-earned labor—“

“—Allen literally pays you from Thawne’s trust—“

“—and now you suggest I replace terrible processed food with _fruit_?!” Cisco exclaimed.

Harry reached around him and Cisco’s breath caught, but Harry was just stretching to hold the fridge open further and pull something out, his arm brushing against Cisco’s side and the stubble of his cheek grazing the side of Cisco’s neck. He straightened up again, leaving Cisco feeling like he’d been zapped with a live wire.

Harry was saying something. Cisco snapped back into the conversation. “What?” he asked.

Harry waved a bag of grapes in front of him. “Here you go, Ramon,” he said, dropping them into Cisco’s hands unceremoniously.

The bag of grapes was very clearly labeled ‘Cecile’ on the top. “Now you’re just trying to continue the circle of food-stealing,” Cisco pointed out. Harry was still standing far, far too close to him. What was _happening_?

Cisco glanced behind him, but he was effectively trapped between Harry’s solid body and the interior of the fridge. “Fine,” he said with a glower. “I’ll eat the grapes.” He ducked under one of Harry’s long arms, desperate to get his burgeoning erection as far away from Harry as possible. As he moved to find a bowl, he heard Harry close the fridge behind him.

“I’ll meet you back in the workshop,” Harry said, something weird in his voice. “Don’t take too long or I’m coming to find you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Cisco said, waving a hand at him. “Get out of here.”

After grabbing his grapes, Cisco too returned to the workshop to do more work on his stun gun. He tried not to pay too much attention to Harry, but occasionally he could feel his eyes on him, watching him. What was going on with him? In the space between each heartbeat, an impossible hope took hold – could the vibe be _true_?

Cisco and Harry stayed holed up in the workshop long past lunch, beginning work on a prototype of the stun gun. Cisco’s grapes (and the few grapes Harry stole from him) tided both of them over until mid-afternoon, when Cisco glanced at his phone. “I should eat,” he said.

Harry glanced over from where he was assembling the targeting array. “I’d like a triple triple,” he said.

Cisco put his phone in his pocket and went back to working on the power pack with the soldering iron. “I never said I was getting _you_ lunch,” he said.

Harry put down the targeting array and stood, walking over to Cisco. “As I said,” he murmured, an assholish smirk on his face and a severe amount of hotness in every step, “I’d like a triple triple.”

Cisco stared at the long length of his body. His hand slipped on the soldering iron. 

“Careful!” Harry said, diving in to catch it before it touched Cisco’s skin. Cisco turned to stare at it, his mouth dry. “That almost burnt you,” Harry said, replacing the iron to its holder and stepping back away from Cisco.

Cisco nodded a little dumbly, his mind whirling. The place where the soldering iron had almost touched him was exactly the spot on his arm where he’d found the mystery burn that morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, I dropped a lot of brand names in this fic, ironically all brands that I don't buy. I am not endorsing any of these products, I promise. Does anyone even eat Lunchables anymore? Nonetheless I feel like Cisco would be a total 90s kid about his snack preferences.
> 
> Next part to be up soon! In the meanwhile, come hang out with me on [tumblr](https://saucy-kate.tumblr.com/).


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You all left me such excited comments that I didn't want to be super withholding - here's the next part!

Cisco did eventually end up fetching food from Big Belly Burger for himself and Harry. While he was breaching in to pick up their order, he dodged big, wet snowflakes falling from the sky. Maybe the winter storm warning was serious after all.

He and Harry joined everyone else in the cortex while they ate. Iris put news coverage of the storm on one of the main monitors, and they crowded around watching the falling snow.

A newscaster stood in a central square reporting on the storm. “As you can see, the snow’s already coming down pretty hard, so stay off the roads if possible. Most local businesses have closed early due to the weather. We’re expecting about a foot of snow total. You can access local school closures at—“

Harry’s arm was casually thrown around the back of Cisco’s chair, and Cisco leaned back against it. They were sitting side by side in two of the desk chairs, slightly apart from the rest of the group, and there was something so comfortable about sitting with Harry, leaning against him, in the middle of a snowstorm…

The feeling of déjà vu returned once more, stronger than ever.

Suddenly, an alarm began to ping – Cisco’s app was getting reports of a metahuman sighting. Everyone except Cisco and Harry jumped up to check it out. Cisco twisted around in his chair to watch them, still leaning against the warmth of Harry’s arm. 

“What the heck is a metahuman doing out in this?” asked Iris, gesturing towards the monitor.

“It’s actually a perfect time to commit a crime, if you think about it,” Barry mused. “Emergency services are all tied up dealing with the snow.”

Caitlin crouched at the computer, checking out the report. “’Robbery in progress in the theater district,’” she read. “The woman can ‘make large objects appear at will.’ That doesn’t sound good.”

“Sounds like a fun power,” Iris said thoughtfully. Barry vanished in a flash, his suit also gone with him.

A moment later, his voice rang from the speakers. “Where in the theater district?” he asked.

Caitlin took a moment to check the screen. “She’s at 5th and Pine,” she said finally. “By Sunset Theater.”

Harry removed his arm slowly, almost reluctantly, from the back of Cisco’s chair. “We should go as backup,” he suggested. “Allen’s probably going to need it.”

Cisco nodded. “Let me just go change into my Vibe suit,” he said.

Harry stopped him with a hand on his chest. “Just put on your coat and goggles,” he said. “It’s too cold, no one will even see your suit.” He began to shrug into his own coat, which he’d brought with him for some reason. Cisco sighed, but Harry had a point – he quickly breached down into the workshop, grabbed his winter gear and Vibe goggles, and reappeared in the cortex to find Harry completing his ensemble with a winter hat and his pulse gun.

Harry’s winter hat looked very familiar. Cisco’s mouth went dry. It was the one from his earlier vibe.

Just as he was about to panic, Barry gave a shout over the speakers.

“Barry!” Iris yelled. “What’s wrong?” She rocketed to her feet on instinct.

Chagrined laughter replaced the yelling over the speakers. “I slipped,” Barry said. 

“You _slipped_?” Iris asked incredulously. “Babe, you have to be careful. It’s icy out there.”

“I thought my super speed would melt it before it could make me slip,” Barry said with a small voice.

Barry’s somewhat hilarious predicament reminded Cisco that he had a job to do – there was no time to panic about vibed almost-kisses. He finished bundling up, tucking his scarf around the collar of his coat. Finally, he put on his goggles. “Sounds like it’s time to head to the party,” he said, opening a breach to 5th and Pine.

He and Harry stepped out into a snow globe.

The entire city was blanketed with several inches of snow. Barely any traffic passed along the unplowed streets, and the snow muffled all sound so that it seemed magically silent even in the center of the theater district. It was dusk, and the street was lit with thousands of twinkling lights strung up on the trees, giving off an otherworldly beauty.

Before he could catch himself, Cisco breathed, “it’s beautiful.” The moment the words left his mouth, he realized what he’d said, the blood rushing in his ears as he remembered his vibe. He turned, terrified, to glance at Harry. His heart pounded in his chest when he saw how close they were standing to one another from breaching. Harry seemed startled to find him that close as well, taking a moment to focus on him before his expression softened.

“It is,” he said, his eyes on Cisco’s face. Cisco felt like the whole world narrowed to just himself and Harry, standing there in the snow.

“Shouldn’t we go find that meta?” Cisco asked softly, shakiness in his voice.

Harry took his gloved hands. Cisco licked his cold lips, knowing it would make them chap but hardly caring. Harry’s expression was unreadable. He dropped Cisco’s hands and reached up to remove the Vibe goggles. 

“What—“ Cisco began.

“Ramon, for one in your life, be quiet,” Harry murmured, leaning down to catch him in a bruising kiss.

Cisco immediately kissed him back with everything he was worth, all the months, _years_ of suppressed longing coming forth. Harry was careful to keep Cisco’s goggles away from them, but his other hand was pressed to the small of Cisco’s back, pulling him closer as Cisco wrapped his own arms around Harry’s neck and stood on his tiptoes. Harry’s lips were warm and slightly chapped, and Cisco breathed in through his nose and reveled in the scent of Harry all around him.

“ _Harry? Cisco?”_ Caitlin’s voice broke in over the comm in their ears. “ _Do you see the meta?_ ”

They broke apart, staring at each other with wide eyes and rosy cheeks. A snowflake landed on Harry’s eyebrow, and Cisco could already feel that his own hair was dusted as well. His heart was trying to beat a staccato out of his chest.

Harry returned the Vibe goggles as gently as he’d removed them, stepping away from Cisco before replying to Caitlin. “No sign of her yet,” he said, his voice slightly rough. “We’re going to scope out the area now. Where’s Allen?” 

“ _On his way,”_ Iris said with a slightly sour voice. _“He’s having some navigational issues.”_

Harry began to make his way down the sidewalk, Cisco scurrying to keep up behind him and reboot his frozen brain. Harry had _kissed_ him. The small kernel of hope grew slightly larger, nestled in his heart.

Suddenly, there was the slight sound of yelling from the direction they were headed. Harry quickened his pace, sloughing through the snow on the untreated sidewalk with his long legs. Cisco slipped along behind him, wishing he’d worn better shoes.

Rounding the corner, they saw a woman, maybe in her fifties, wrapped in a pink wool coat and lugging a large black bag that looked like it might have a painting inside. When she saw them, she froze and considered them carefully.

“Put the bag down,” Harry said, aiming his gun at her. Cisco shook his head to clear it, trying to get himself back in the zone for a meta fight.

The woman shook her head at Harry. “I still can’t let you have this. I’ve been trying to rescue it from Rathburn for years.”

A kernel of something struck Cisco again as he listened to her speak – he’d heard the name Rathburn before.

“Give us the bag!” Harry demanded as Barry skidded into place behind them, sliding along the untreated sidewalk and faceplanting into the ground.

“Ow,” Barry whined.

The meta looked at Barry with wide eyes. Cisco broke out of his Harry-induced coma and leaned down to help Barry up.

The meta glared at them. “You can’t have it!” she shouted, and a large fence went up around them like magic, blocking them in.

“Wow,” Cisco said. “That’s trippy.” He felt an echo in the universe around him, almost like he’d uttered those words before.

Barry immediately sped all three of them over the fence, dropping Cisco and Harry next to one another in a pile before tackling the meta with his super speed. They went sprawling on the ice, the bag with the painting landing right in front of Cisco and Harry.

As Barry took his meta cuffs and placed them on the woman, dampening her power, Harry took the bag with the painting from Cisco and moved under an awning to get out of the snow. Cisco slid to his feet and followed him, watching as Harry unzipped the bag carefully and withdrew the frame of a painting, facing backwards.

“What is it?” Cisco asked. Harry turned the painting around. A handsome man painted with thick, colorful brush strokes stared back at them, his eyes a piercing green that stood out from his mahogany skin. Cisco snapped his fingers. “I’ve seen that painting before.” His eyes met Harry’s, wide and blue. “I’ve lived this day before,” he realized. “That’s why I’ve had this sense of déjà vu!”

Harry inhaled sharply with a look of pure shock.

The man in the painting came to life. He furrowed his brow as though confused, then took in the sight of them and grinned wickedly.

The world around Cisco began to shrink, like he was falling into a tunnel with only a faint glimmer of light at the end—

* * *

Cisco’s eyes flew open as Britney Spears started singing at 8:15. He stared up at his ceiling, still feeling Harry’s lips on his own, and _remembered._  

He scrambled for his phone, silencing the alarm before checking the date. It was still November 15th, which meant his mind wasn’t crazy, he wasn’t vibing – he was _repeating the same day over and over again._  

“I’m stuck in Groundhog Day,” he said, staring at the ceiling again. The ceiling didn’t reply.

If it was like Groundhog Day, that meant no one else would remember anything.

Harry wouldn’t remember kissing him.

Cisco pulled the covers over his head, not wanting to go out into the cold of the Central City morning and live the day all over again for the third time in a row. All the haziness from his last loop was gone; he could remember both days clearly, and it was embarrassing that he hadn’t understood until the very end of the loop.

By the time he finally dragged himself out of bed, there was no time to take a shower – instead, he grabbed an errant hair tie and pulled his hair back behind his head in a small ponytail. It wasn’t his usual style, but he was just going to have to deal – they were stuck in a forever-repeating day, after all. Nobody would even remember it unless Cisco managed to break the cycle that day.

It had to be linked to the painting, the one the meta was stealing. The day had reset both times when the painting had come to life. That meant Cisco’s mission was to find the painting before it was stolen, before the snowstorm, and figure out why it was causing reality to reset.

He threw on a pair of skinny jeans and decided he needed a different shirt than the one he’d worn the previous two loops. He reached into his graphic tee collection at random and drew out a shirt which read “[Particle Collisions Give Me A Hadron](https://www.amazon.com/Particle-Collisions-Physics-Science-T-shirt-/dp/B01B6NPM48/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1462815599&sr=8-1&keywords=Particle+Collisions+give+Me+a+Hadron&linkCode=sl1&tag=geekw00-20&linkId=d3160215ce926ae868828ca24eea2afa)”. He almost shoved it back in the drawer as inappropriate, but decided that it fit the general theme for the day and threw his coat on over it before breaching straight into S.T.A.R. Labs.

Once he stood inside the breach room, he realized he didn’t have a plan of action. Maybe the others _did_ remember, but if they didn’t, he was going to have to fill them in. It just seemed likely that his connection to the vibrations of the universe had kept him aware of the loop.

First, he had to get everyone to gather in the cortex.

He made his way into the speed lab first, where – surprise, surprise – Caitlin, Iris, and Barry were gathered, doing tests on Barry’s vibrations while listening to NPR. “No time for that now!” he exclaimed as they started to speak to him. “There’s a meta emergency. Everyone meet in the cortex in ten minutes.”

“But—“ Caitlin said. 

“Mrs. Finkelstein’s cat—“ Iris began. 

“I know, okay! I know Barry landed on your neighbor’s cat last night. Caitlin’s going to do all of her tests and find nothing wrong, it’s just stress. Meanwhile, I need you in the cortex." 

Caitlin walked up to him slowly, like he was making crazy eyes. “Cisco,” she said softly. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll explain once everyone is together,” Cisco said. “I promise.” He turned to Iris. “Can you call Joe and let him know I’ll pick him and Cecile up at the house in five minutes to breach them here?”

Iris nodded, her face pale. “I’ll call them now.”

“I’m going to get Harry,” Cisco said, turning back around and striding to the workshop, trying to ignore how his heart was pounding in his chest. Harry had _kissed_ him. And then they’d fought a meta and uncovered some sort of cursed painting and reset time.

When he entered the workshop, he tossed his coat and scarf on a chair and immediately glanced into the corner. It seemed like everyone reset to the place they were when they woke up, and Harry was no exception, curled into himself on the table, glasses beside him. Cisco walked over and studied his profile for a moment, something tight in his chest. All he wanted to do was lean over and press his lips to Harry’s hairline, press his feelings deep into Harry’s heart. He resisted the urge, didn’t even touch him, and instead shouted “Harry!” right into Harry’s left ear.

Harry jerked away, startled, and turned to stare at Cisco with wild eyes. “Ramon!” he snapped. “Don’t do that!”

“Sorry,” Cisco said, not sounding very sorry at all.

Harry blinked sleepily and reached out to tug at his ponytail, making a confused face. “What did you do with your hair?”

Cisco pulled away, ignoring the sharp feeling in his stomach. “We have a meta emergency. Everyone’s meeting in the cortex in ten minutes.” He didn’t meet Harry’s eyes, sure that if they made eye contact, Harry would be able to read it on Cisco’s face that they’d kissed. Harry studied him for a moment.

“A meta emergency,” Harry repeated slowly. He reached down and put on his glasses, scrutinizing Cisco with those baby blues.

“Yeah. You should have time to get some coffee; I still need to breach over and grab Joe and Cecile.”

Harry was still blinking sleep out of his eyes as he looked Cisco up and down, and suddenly he started coughing as though he’d choked on air. “Ramon. What—what on Earth are you _wearing_?!”

Cisco looked down at his shirt and shrugged. “First one I pulled out of my drawer today.” He grinned and slapped Harry on the back, going for camaraderie and falling a bit short. “Come on, meet me in the cortex.” He skipped out, leaving a red-faced Harry behind him, scandalized by terrible physics innuendo.

After breaching Joe and Cecile in to join the group, Cisco joined them all in the cortex. He could think of no better way to begin than by striding up to one of the dry erase boards and writing “GROUNDHOG DAY” in all caps.

“’Groundhog Day,’” Caitlin read out loud. “What does that mean?”

“Have you seriously never seen Groundhog Day?” Cisco asked. “Bill Murray? Andie MacDowell? Punxsutawney Phil?” Iris and Joe looked at him with blank faces, but Barry and Harry exchanged glances and Caitlin and Cecile began nodding.

“Oh, the movie,” Caitlin said. “What about it?”

Cisco drew his hands out wide at his sides in order to heighten the drama. “We are living our own real life Groundhog Day,” he announced, studiously not looking in Harry’s direction. 

“No way!” Barry exclaimed. “A time loop? Really? How many times has it looped?”

“Seriously?” Caitlin said. “Is there a meta with that ability?”

“We’ve looped twice so far, so this is the third day,” Cisco informed them. “It’s definitely linked to some meta who can make objects appear around her, but there’s a cursed painting that comes to life as well.” He rubbed his hands together gleefully, pushing down the errant thought of the feel of Harry’s mouth that drifted to the top of his consciousness. “I’m going to call her Looper.”

“And you’re the only one who remembers these loops,” Harry said, not a question. His eyes were narrowed, his mouth pressed into a thin line. All his playfulness from the last loop was gone. 

“It seems like it,” Cisco said with a shrug. “To be honest, I didn’t really remember the first one until after we’d looped twice – it felt like some sort of weird dream. But now I remember both of them, so we can start cracking the case.” He turned around and started writing on the dry erase board – _Painting = key?_

“Can someone explain exactly what’s going on in a way that doesn’t involve references to a 90s movie?” Joe asked, moving forward to stand next to Iris.

“Oh,” said Cisco. “Yeah. This one day, November 15th, is repeating over and over again. It seems to reset once one of us views this cursed painting that Looper, our meta, is trying to steal.”

“Cursed painting,” Joe repeated. He massaged his forehead. “I need a drink.”

Cecile wrapped an arm around him, smiling. “Groundhog Day was fun as a movie,” she said. “I’m not sure how it will translate to real life. How do we fix it?”

“We’ve got to identify Looper and the painting she’s stealing,” Cisco said, snapping his fingers. “Luckily, I know where she was when she stole it, so we should be able to at least find the painting before she gets her hands on it.” He frowned. “Oh also, there’s going to be a giant snowstorm later.” He very carefully did not make eye contact with Harry. 

Caitlin wrinkled her nose. “It’s not supposed to be more than four inches,” she said.

“Trust me,” said Cisco. “It’s more than four inches.” 

“Okay,” said Barry. “So where’s this cursed painting, and how do we stop it from resetting us the moment we lay eyes on it?”

That was the answer Cisco didn’t have. “It’s at Sunset Theater in the theater district,” he said. “But I have no idea how to keep it from cursing us." 

“Do we have to see it for it to curse us?” Harry asked. “Maybe we could wear protective eyewear?”

“I was wearing my Vibe goggles both times it whammied me,” Cisco told him. “Those should have protected me against anything visual it could have thrown at me.”

“The other issue is going to be identifying this meta,” Iris pointed out. “I’m guessing we don’t have any good pictures of her?”

“Can’t save data in a way that loops with us,” Cisco said. “That I know of.” He frowned. “It’s going to be hard to search the database with facial recognition if we don’t have a face to match it with.”

“There’s a sketch artist down at the station,” Joe said. “If you can come down and describe her, we can run the sketch against our facial recognition database.”

“Okay, Dad, take Cisco down to the station to get the sketch as quickly as possible,” Iris said, falling smoothly into leader mode. “Barry, you and Caitlin go down to the theater and scope out the place, try to find this painting.” She looked at Cisco. “Can you describe the painting?”

“Portrait of a brown dude, kind of handsome. He’s got a goatee and green eyes. When you look at it, he smirks creepily.”

“Got it,” Caitlin said. “If it’s in public somewhere, we’ll find it.”

“Even if it’s not in public somewhere, it won’t take me long to go through an entire theater,” Barry added.

“Good work, team,” Iris said. “Let’s solve this mystery before it has a chance to loop again.”

Cisco gave Joe finger guns. “Let me breach us down to the station. Save us some time." 

“I’m coming with you,” Harry said from behind Cisco. Cisco closed his eyes and forced himself not to turn around by sheer will alone.

“Someone might recognize you,” Joe pointed out.

Harry brushed his arm past Cisco’s as he reached out to grab the black baseball cap from a nearby desk. Stepping into Cisco’s line of sight, he very pointedly put it on and stared Joe down.

Cisco swallowed. “Sure, sure. Harry can join us,” he said, even though he’d had the intention of avoiding Harry for the entire day. If Harry was determined to act weird and overprotective, the easiest thing to do was just to let him come along.

They breached down to CCPD headquarters, appearing on a side street nearby. The roads were already wet and covered with salt, preparations for the coming snow. When they walked in with Joe, Captain Singh took one look at Cisco’s t-shirt and walked away shaking his head.

An hour later, Cisco had a fresh sketch that looked like Looper, and Harry’s eyebrow hadn’t stopped twitching. 

“What is your problem?” Cisco hissed while they waited in the lobby for Joe to finish up with the sketch artist. “You’ve been looming and acting like you’re about to murder someone all morning.”

Harry’s glare was razor sharp. “I don’t like this situation,” he said. “It took too long to get that sketch, and if we loop, we’ll just have to do it again. There’s no way to preserve information between repeats.”

“There’s my memory,” Cisco shot back. “I remember everything. Crystal clear.”

Harry’s eyebrow twitched again. “Ramon, that’s not—you can’t take a photo with your _brain_. How are we supposed to find out who this meta is every time we repeat?”

“We get her name during this loop,” Cisco said, purposefully keeping his voice calm. “And then we know who she is forever because I’ll remember.” He peered at Harry, worry about his strange behavior overriding his initial instinct for avoidance. “Are you okay? You seem about five seconds away from flipping out." 

Harry gritted his teeth. “I’m fine.” It was less than believable.

Cisco’s phone rang, interrupting their conversation. Cisco moved a normal-person distance from Harry and answered.

“Cisco?” Caitlin asked. “You probably want to get down here.”

“Did you find the painting?” Cisco asked.

There was a moment of silence. Then, Caitlin said, “we need you to come here and verify it for yourself.”

They must have found it, Cisco realized, and somehow the day hadn’t repeated. “Okay,” he told her, “stay there for now. Harry and I will be over shortly.” 

Joe emerged soon after Caitlin’s call, carrying the sketch. Cisco breached him back to S.T.A.R. Labs, asking him to run the sketch against their database as quickly as possible and text Cisco Looper’s name immediately. Joe nodded before ducking through the breach.

“What are you thinking?” Harry asked as they stood outside CCPD headquarters, their breath visible in the cold air. “You’re the one who remembers everything that happened.”

“We need her name,” Cisco said. “If we see the painting before we have her name, the day might repeat.” He grinned and started walking in the direction of the theater district. “So we’re going to take our time walking to Sunset Theater and hope Joe gives us a name before we get there.”

Harry looked skeptical, but he turned to follow anyway.

The streets were bustling around them as the city prepared for the snow. They passed a supermarket with lines full of people trying to buy last minute bread, eggs, and milk. Drivers on the road were like maniacs, the sound of car horns everywhere. Cisco contrasted it with the heavenly silence that would overtake the city later in the day and missed the magic of it.

Harry trudged along behind him, clearly unhappy about walking in the cold. “I hate winter,” he informed Cisco at one point. “This is way too early in November to be this cold.” 

“I know,” Cisco said, hiding a smile.

“There’s absolutely no reason that we need to be outside for more than five minutes in this,” Harry added as they made their way across one of the small parks that dotted the city. It was mostly empty except for a few people slouched on the benches on their phones.

“I don’t know,” Cisco said thoughtfully. “I think I’m warming to our upcoming winter.” His mind rewound back to standing in that magical snowfall with Harry, winding his arms around his neck to pull him in for a kiss. He wanted to do it again. He wanted so, so much.

It was tempting to experiment with it, to turn around and kiss Harry just to see what he would do. If the day would reset Harry’s memories again anyway, what was the risk? But they were trying to _stop_ the loops, and if Cisco did something stupid because he thought it would just be reset the next day…would he really be trying his hardest to stop the time loop?

They were two blocks away from the theater when Cisco’s phone chirped. He fumbled it from his pocket, frowning at its low battery from being out in the cold, and read the text that Joe had sent.

‘ _Meta’s name is Cassandra de Leon,’_ it read. Well, at least that would be an easy name to remember for future resets. 

“Cassandra de Leon,” Cisco said out loud. “That’s her name. Looper.”

Harry’s brows knit together. “Will you remember that if today resets again?” he asked.

“Absolutely. Are you doubting my memory?” Cisco rapped on the side of his head firmly. “It’s like a steel trap. I forget nothing.”

Harry stared at him, his gaze piercingly blue. “Nothing?” he challenged. The air between them shifted electric. Cisco swallowed and looked away from the intensity in his gaze.

“Nothing,” he repeated. “Looper won’t get away from us now.”

Cisco turned away from Harry and marched blithely forward until they were in front of the theater, which had a big sign in front announcing its hours of operation were 5pm to midnight. 

Cisco frowned and called Caitlin. “We’re right outside,” he said. “How do we get in?”

“Wait there,” she instructed. A few moments later, she emerged from the front entrance and waved them inside. A uniformed guard barely looked up from his book as they entered; somehow, Barry and Caitlin must had made a good excuse for being there.

Caitlin led them through the plush lobby of the theater and into an elevator, which went up several floors before letting them off on the fourth story. Harry and Cisco glanced at one another, not sure what they would find, but Caitlin smiled reassuringly at them. “Don’t worry,” she said, reaching out and squeezing Cisco’s gloved hand. “It’s okay.”

She led them into an ornately-decorated office, and Cisco froze when he saw the painting that hung above the heavy wooden desk. It was the cursed one, but the face in it stayed stationary, unmoving.

The man behind the desk turned around. He was obviously over a decade older, but his face identically matched the painting above it. Barry sat to his side, drinking from a cup of tea.

“Hey Cisco, Harry,” he said, throwing them a cheerful smile. “This is Basil Rathburn.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, here is my [tumblr](https://saucy-kate.tumblr.com/).


	3. Chapter 3

While Basil Rathburn prepared Cisco and Harry two cups of tea, Barry and Caitlin explained that he was the owner of Sunset Theater. Rathburn had arrived at the theater just as Barry and Caitlin had been asking the guard about the painting, and he’d apparently brought them up to see it out of the kindness of his heart.

Rathburn was charismatic in person and just as handsome as in his portrait, and Cisco found himself charmed despite himself. Harry, on the other hand, was being as unpleasant as possible, refusing to touch his tea and slouching in his chair with his arms crossed. 

“Mr. Rathburn,” Cisco said politely when they were done explaining the events of the morning. “Can you tell us about that painting?” 

Rathburn glanced up at the painting behind him and smiled. “As I was telling Mr. Allen and Dr. Snow, it’s my ex-wife’s work. She was an incredible artist, no?” 

“Your ex-wife wouldn’t happen to be named Cassandra de Leon, would she?” Harry asked gruffly.

Rathburn sat up straight, his smile fading abruptly. “She is,” he confirmed. “What do you know about Cass?” His intensity grew to seemingly fill the room.

Cisco swallowed hard. “She’s trying to steal your painting,” he said.

Rathburn frowned. “She won’t be a problem,” he said, waving a hand. “I have security measures that you couldn’t even imagine. 

Caitlin leaned forward. “Why would your wife want to steal back this painting?” she asked. 

“Ex-wife,” Rathburn corrected hastily. He shrugged. “Who knows why Cass does anything? She’s always been a free spirit.” There was something tired and sad in his expression, something familiar. Cisco saw it in Harry sometimes, that unrelenting loneliness. It was different somehow than his own sense of being alone – in Harry and in Rathburn, it seemed deeper, more like they’d accepted its permanence.

“How long have you and Cassandra been divorced?” Barry asked.

Rathburn sighed and sank back into his chair. “We never formalized it,” he said after a moment. “No divorce papers, no courts. We’re technically still married. She’ll inherit my money when I die, if she outlives me.” He shrugged. “There are worse heirs to have.”

Cisco was starting to smell a messy breakup. “So how long have you two been separated, then?”

Rathburn took a moment to answer. “Ten years?” he finally said. 

Ten years was a long time, Cisco thought. Ten years before, he’d been a nerdy seventeen-year-old building robots in his garage. Now he was a superhero in love with a man twice his age. Life was weird.

Huh. He turned the thought around in his mind, studying it. He was definitely, completely, ridiculously head-over-heels in love with Harry Wells. 

Somehow, the world didn’t end with that revelation. “Okay, so why is she back now?” Harry demanded. “People don’t just reappear after ten years of separation without a good reason.”

“You just told me why she’s back,” Rathburn said with a pleasant, fake-feeling smile. “She wants my painting.” He glanced at his watch and frowned. “If you’ll excuse me, the storm is supposed to start around two and I’d like to be home before then. May I show you all out?”

Rathburn left them on the steps leading up to the entrance to the theater, the air crisp and even colder than it had been when Cisco and Harry had made their way across the city.

“He’s definitely hiding something,” Barry said.

“I agree,” Harry mused. “He knows what’s going on, but he didn’t want to tell us.”

“The painting didn’t come alive,” Cisco pointed out. “It has to be something related to Looper’s abilities.”

“What if _we_ steal the painting?” Caitlin suggested. “Barry could be in and out of there before Rathburn’s security could blink. We bring it back to S.T.A.R. Labs, she can’t get it, and then we all wake up tomorrow like normal.”

“That could work,” Cisco said thoughtfully. “Usually in time loops like these, the heroes just have to find a way to break the cycle. Stealing the painting ourselves could work.”

“’In time loops like these’?” Harry repeated dryly. “In what universe, Ramon? Science fiction?”

“Excuse me,” Cisco said, glaring at him. “This is a tried and true trope! I think I’ve watched enough variations of it to figure out how we can get out of our situation.”

His stomach growled, interrupting the conversation. 

“If we’re going to steal that painting, let’s do it after lunch,” Harry suggested.

A Chinese restaurant was located across the street from the theater. They headed inside, shedding their millions of layers and sitting down to a giant, delicious lunch. When they finally emerged, the first snowflakes were starting to fall, melting into small puddles on the sidewalk. Before long, the world would begin to get dusted. 

“We need to steal the painting before Looper gets here,” Cisco said. “We’ve got about two hours before she’ll strike.”

“That’s easy,” Barry said, and dashed away in a spark of red. Caitlin, Cisco, and Harry all glanced at one another.

“Did he seriously run off to steal the painting?” Caitlin asked. 

“I think he seriously just ran off to steal the painting,” Cisco confirmed.

Barry reappeared a moment later clutching the painting, frame and all, in his hands. “It’s heavy,” he panted. “Cisco, can you breach Caitlin and Harry back to S.T.A.R. Labs?”

Cisco nodded and Barry vanished again, the bushes next to them stirring slightly in the wind.

After breaching back to S.T.A.R. Labs, they all gathered in the cortex, studying the painting. The image of younger Rathburn remained perfectly two-dimensional, failing to come alive, smile evilly, or reset the timeline. 

Cisco shot a hopeful look at Harry. “I think this is really going to work,” he said. “Looper won’t know what to do if the painting isn’t there.”

“This painting is really the source of all of this?” Iris asked, circling around it.

“The woman who painted it is a meta who can create objects out of thin air,” Barry said, shrugging like he didn’t make the rules. “Maybe she can make a time loop, too.” Iris ruffled his hair. 

“Looper,” Cisco reminded them. Everyone else’s dedication to nicknames was sporadic at best.

“So now we just wait for the day to end and tomorrow to begin like normal?” Caitlin asked. Everyone glanced at each other, but they were officially in uncharted territory; none of them had any idea. Finally, the entire group looked as one to Cisco, who threw his hands in the air.

“I don’t know!” he said. “It’s not like I’ve ever encountered a time loop in real life before!”

They spent some time hanging around the cortex, keeping an eye alternately on the painting and on local news coverage of the snowstorm. 

Caitlin finally glanced around the room. “I for one would like to make a snowman,” she said. “Who’s in?” Cisco thought about how much time he’d spent in the snow lately, but there was a decent chance Harry wouldn’t join, and keeping space between himself and Harry seemed to be a good thing.

“I’m in,” he said. “But only if I can add some artistic flair.” 

“I would never squash your artistic desires,” Caitlin replied, tugging on her coat and hat.

She and Cisco piled into the elevator and rode up to the ground level. The S.T.A.R. Labs grounds had some open grassy areas despite years of the landscaping growing out, and Cisco and Caitlin made their way through several inches of snow to the top of a small, open hill. Caitlin stood staring at the river, snowflakes gathering in her hair.

“It’s so beautiful,” she said, and Cisco flashed back to his previous loop in the snow with Harry again. He groaned and laid himself flat on the ground in the snow, staring up at the softly-falling flakes. It was cold, but exactly what he needed to clear his muddled head.

Caitlin crouched beside him, looking down at him with concern. “Are you okay?” she asked. “That was a very self-pitying sound.”

“Caitlin,” Cisco whined. “Harry _kissed_ me.” 

He regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. He hadn’t intended to tell anyone else about that, but at least if they messed this up and the day repeated, Caitlin would forget about it. Caitlin stared at him, her mouth open in a silent ‘o’. 

“Harry kissed you?” she asked carefully. “Did you, uh…want him to kiss you?”

Cisco flailed around dramatically. “Yes! I still want him to kiss me!” Oh god, if she remembered this, he was never going to live it down.

Caitlin looked like she was trying not to laugh. “Then what’s the problem?” she asked. “You and Harry have been weird about each other forever.”

Cisco blinked and stopped flailing. He sat up and pointed at her. “No, we haven’t,” he denied.

“We all see it,” Caitlin told him. “It’s hard to miss.” He suddenly remembered her little comment on the first day of the loop, when she’d mentioned that she’d been stuck in the break room with himself and Harry. Was that what she meant?

Caitlin patted the snow down under her butt and slowly lowered herself to sit next to Cisco. “Look, Cisco,” she said. “Nobody cares if you like Harry. Or if Harry likes you. You’re both part of our team, and you’re both part of our family.” She shrugged. “I’m jealous, actually, if anything. I wish I had someone who looked at me like that.”

Cisco leaned over and pulled her into a warm hug. “You shine too brightly for anyone to overlook you for long,” he said. “There’s no way you won’t find love again.”

She hugged him back and they sat silently together for a long moment.

“So are you going to kiss Harry again?” Caitlin asked finally.

Cisco hid his face in his hands. “I don’t know!”

“Why not?" 

He peered out at her with one eye. “He kissed me during the last time loop and now he doesn’t remember.” Caitlin burst into giggles. Cisco leveled a glare at her. “I’m glad you’re enjoying my anguish,” he added, salty.

“Oh, Cisco,” Caitlin said, patting his ponytail. “If Harry kissed you during one loop, he’ll kiss you again. He obviously wanted to.”

Cisco sighed. It felt as though his entire being was filled with longing. Who knew when Harry would get the guts up to kiss him again? What had even made him so confident during that one loop? Yes, they’d been stuck to each other like glue, but that was because Harry had been chasing Cisco for the entire day. What had changed to cause that? Had Cisco done something differently during the second loop to trigger that? Something pinged at the back of his subconscious, something he was missing…

“I just…I was so happy,” Cisco murmured. “For that one moment, I was happier than I have been since…” he trailed off, not wanting to bring Dante’s death into this. Caitlin leaned over and pulled him into another hug, knowing where he was going anyway. They both were familiar with the dark cloud that grief cast over things.

“I don’t see any snowmen,” Harry’s voice rang out critically from the entrance to S.T.A.R. Labs. Cisco looked up in surprise. Harry was bundled in his long black coat, wearing the winter hat from the day before. He made his way down to them, grimacing distastefully at the snow.

“You hate the snow,” Cisco pointed out. “Why would you come out here?” 

Harry looked up at the sky, not providing an answer.

“Well,” said Caitlin, standing up and brushing snow off of her coat. “I actually just remembered that I have a new serum! In the lab! That needs to be stirred once every hour, and now is the time!” She quickly ran back to the entrance, waving goodbye awkwardly to them. “Have fun!” With that, she disappeared.

Cisco was going to kill her. “Traitor,” he muttered under his breath.

Harry walked over to stand near him, surveying the damage Cisco’s flailing had done to the freshly fallen snow. “I thought you were going to build things from snow, not roll around in it,” he said.

Cisco glared up at him. “I hate you,” he said without feeling. “Don’t critique my artistic vision.”

“I don’t see much vision from this vantage point,” Harry replied with a smirk. He crouched down next to Cisco, their faces close together. “What exactly were you trying to accomplish, Ramon?”

Cisco breathed in his air, wondering if they were going to kiss for the second time. Maybe this time, their plan would work and Harry would remember it. 

The ground beneath them began to tremble, the vibrations calling out to Cisco as Harry lost his balance and swayed against him. A large rock appeared near them, practically popping out of thin air.

“What—!” Cisco exclaimed. “This never happened in any of the other loops." 

A familiar figure in a pink coat crested the hill to stand in front of them. Looper put her hands on her hips, scowling. “You caused me a lot of trouble, stealing the painting,” she said. 

Cisco glanced at Harry, wild-eyed. “How on earth did you know it was here?” he asked. “What kind of freaky powers do you have?”

Harry’s eyes narrowed. “She remembers the loops,” he said.

It fell into place, making sudden, complete sense. “She’s seen us chasing her before,” Cisco breathed. “Everyone knows that the Flash operates out of S.T.A.R. Labs.”

Cassandra de Leon advanced on them, clearly upset. “Nothing is going right anymore!” she shouted. “I don’t know what else to do!”

The comm, which was still in Cisco’s ear from their earlier mission, suddenly came alive. “ _Uhhh, Cisco?”_ Iris’s voice rang out. “ _Something’s going on with the painting._ ” 

“What are you doing?” Cisco demanded of De Leon. “You’re the one controlling the loop, aren’t you?”

“ _It’s starting to move,”_ Iris continued. _“It just blinked at us._ ” 

“I’m sorry, but I have to get that painting,” Looper said, sweeping her hand in front of her face. Suddenly, Cisco and Harry were on top of the main bridge above the river, looking down at the frozen surface. They could see the S.T.A.R. Labs building, barely a gleam in the distance.

“She moved us away somehow,” Cisco growled. He readied a breach, calling Iris with the same breath through his comm. “Iris, she’s right outside, she’s coming for the painting. Harry and I are breaching back.” He pushed his way to standing, slipping in the ice coating the sidewalk beneath his feet. Harry grabbed onto him to steady him, casting worried looks at the river below. Their noses brushed accidentally. Cisco’s breath caught in his throat.

“ _Cisco, you’d better get back soon, the painting just smiled!”_ Barry yelled in Cisco’s ear.

“Harry,” Cisco said, his voice deeper than usual. “Harry, I—“

The world around them collapsed, darkness closing in.

* * *

_Oh the taste of your lips, I’m on a ride. You’re toxic, I’m slippin’ under…_

Cisco’s eyes flew open, his nose still cold from the wind whipping across the bridge. He grabbed his phone immediately – 8:15, what a surprise.

Now he had to do the whole day over again.

He dragged himself into the shower. What was the harm, he thought, if he just let the day play out once? What if he played with the variables, had fun with it, and then let it repeat? He toyed with the idea of seducing Harry, just to find out what it would be like, but the thrill of it disappeared like smoke with the realization that Harry would never remember it. But he could do other things. He could sit back and relax. He could play pranks on his friends. He could go home and say all the things to his mother that he’d never had the courage to say before. 

What was the harm in pretending it was a normal day and letting the loop repeat once more? He was so tired. It felt like he hadn’t gotten a single decent night’s sleep in days.

The hot water stung when it hit the burn on his arm, a reminder that things still carried over from loop to loop, even if memories didn’t. He couldn’t risk hurting himself or getting himself killed – or anyone else on his team.

What if they just let Looper steal the painting, he wondered. Was she creating the loop to get what she wanted? Maybe if they didn’t do anything at all, it would revert back to the normal timeline again. 

There were too many variables, and in the end, Cisco blow-dried his hair, selected a t-shirt that read “[Friends Don’t Let Friends Derive Drunk](https://www.amazon.com/Drink-Derive-Shirt-Funny-Major/dp/B00644Q2L2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&keywords=funny%20math%20shirt&qid=1462474760&ref_=sr_1_6&sr=8-6&linkCode=sl1&tag=geekw00-20&linkId=7588e77df4993ed360992885467ff82e)”, and breached to Jitters to get a Flash before going to work. When he reached the office, he bypassed the speed lab completely in favor of heading immediately down to the workshop, where Harry was – as usual – sleeping with his head on the table.

Man, if Cisco felt like he’d barely had a night’s sleep in days, how must Harry feel? All of his sleep was occurring while seated upright with his head in his hands on the table. Cisco’s experiences with high school had taught him that sleeping like that did not produce good-quality rest.

He pulled off his scarf and coat, dropping them on his chair before walking over to Harry’s sleeping form. This time, it didn’t feel like there was any point in resisting; he leaned down and smoothed the fuzzy hair sticking up over Harry’s forehead gently.

Harry startled awake and blinked blearily at Cisco. “Ramon?” he asked in that same hoarse voice that Cisco was getting used to. He wondered what it would be like to hear that voice every morning. He must have been staring for too long without responding, because Harry rubbed his eyes and waved a hand in front of his face. “Earth-1 to Ramon,” he said.

“Very funny,” Cisco said. This was the big moment. Was he going to reveal the time loop to Harry and give up the possibility of having a day full of ‘get out of jail free’ cards? “Harry,” he said. “We have a problem. I need your help.”

Harry put his glasses on, studying Cisco calmly. His gaze immediately caught on the Flash cradled in Cisco’s other hand; he snatched it before Cisco could blink and took a giant sip. 

“Hey, not fair,” Cisco snapped. “That’s mine.”

Harry shrugged and handed it back to him. “Thanks,” he said.

“I didn’t offer it to you. That wasn’t for you.” Harry didn’t seem fazed, still blinking somewhat sleepily.

“What was your problem, Ramon? If you don’t mind, I’m going to head back to my room to get some sleep soon…” 

“No, wait,” said Cisco. “We’re stuck in a time loop.”

Harry watched him carefully. “A time loop,” he repeated. “Like in Star Trek.”

“Or Groundhog Day,” Cisco confirmed. “Yes, something like that. There’s a cursed painting, a couple of divorcees fighting over it, a meta with some crazy powers…this is the fourth time we’ve lived out this day.”

Harry glanced around the room, his brow furrowed. “Why are you only telling me this?” he asked. “Where are the others?”

“Involving the others didn’t help much last time around,” Cisco said. “I want to see what just you and I can manage this time. We’re the team geniuses, right? If we can’t solve this, no one can.”

Harry took way less convincing than Cisco expected; he also required far less of an explanation to get him up to speed. “Okay, let’s fix this,” he said. “What’s your plan?” 

Cisco blinked at him. “My plan,” he said, trying not to become lost in those blue eyes.

“Yes, Ramon. When people are trying to solve a problem, they often come up with a plan,” Harry said. He lurched to his feet, startling Cisco back away from him. “You, plan. Me, coffee.” With that, he shuffled out of the room in the direction of the break room.

A plan. Cisco commandeered one of the dry erase boards and quickly jotted down all the notes he could remember from the last loop. Cassandra de Leon, Basil Rathburn, separated for ten years. He made a list of all the powers that he’d seen Looper use, and all the ways they knew the painting worked to reset time. By the time he was creating a list of possible options, Harry was shuffling back in the door with a steaming mug of coffee in his hand.

“Good,” he mused. “This is good.” He read over the board, nodding and occasionally taking sips from his mug.

“The most important thing,” Cisco told him, taking his marker and tapping on the board where he’d written ‘Cassandra de Leon’ in big block letters, “is that De Leon, aka Looper, remembers all of the loops as well.”

“So she knows we’re trying to stop her,” Harry mused, stroking his chin.

“Yeah, and she knows we’re based at S.T.A.R. Labs,” Cisco added. “She came and found us at the lab yesterday.”

“So stealing the painting is out,” Harry said. 

“And the painting only seems to activate and reset the timeline when she’s near,” Cisco added. “I don’t know how close she has to be. It started waking up when she was outside the building yesterday, but the painting itself was in the cortex.”

Harry took one of the markers and wrote ‘radius of effect = ???’ on the dry erase board.

“One idea I had,” Cisco mused, tapping the marker against his mouth, “was that letting her steal the painting might end the loop. Maybe it resets because she doesn’t get her hands on what she wants.” Cisco dragged the butt of the marker along his lower lip absent-mindedly.

“So we just…let her get away with it?” Harry asked. Cisco looked up, hearing a catch in his voice. Harry was staring like Cisco had something on his face. Cisco studied him for a moment before remembering the marker against his lips. He pressed it more firmly against his mouth as a test. Harry traced the line of movement with his eyes, his pupils enormous.

Cisco blinked, ignoring the low desire unfurling in his gut and bringing himself back to the present. “Anyway,” he said, putting the marker back in the designated tray, “we have several options for today.”

Harry poked the dry erase board where it said ‘let it play out’. “This is your best bet. I don’t like the idea of her just waltzing off the with the painting, but,” he swallowed, “we should at least find out if that will break the loop. It will give us more data.”

“More data,” Cisco nodded. “I’ll have to disable the alert that goes with the social media app so that the alarm doesn’t sound. Without that, Barry and the rest shouldn’t even know anything is happening.”

Harry studied the board in front of them thoughtfully. “We could also catch her before she does any damage,” he said. “Find where she’s hiding now and bring her in before the painting leaves the theater." 

“The dampeners don’t work on her,” Cisco told him. “And she has one doozy of a power. Bringing her in is not going to be easy.”

“Then as I said, our best bet is to set a control,” Harry finally concluded. “See what happens to our experiment if we do nothing.”

It made sense – leaving Looper alone to steal the painting would eliminate whether or not that was the cause of the repeating day. They could always get stuck in a different day trying to get it back from her later. It wasn’t like she was killing anyone.

“So today’s a normal day,” Cisco said. “Cool. I’m gonna go disable the metahuman alert.” Their course of action decided, the familiar awkwardness around Harry reasserted itself _._

After stopping by the cortex to make changes to the alert algorithm, Cisco settled in to the day that he’d lived far too many times. He wandered down to the speed lab around 10:30 to shoot the shit with Harry, Caitlin, and Barry. They listened to the news declare the winter storm warning and teased Caitlin about Killer Frost driving her home.

It was all so run of the mill, little did Cisco suspect that everything would fall apart when he and Harry made their way to the break room.

“Man, I’m famished,” Cisco said, opening the fridge and peering inside. “Oddly, my Lunchables seem to have been stolen.” Some idea floated at the back of his mind, the idea of eating a fancy lunch and not even having to pay for it when the day reset.

“Cecile’s grapes are still in there; I think we only ate half of them,” Harry replied absentmindedly as he stuck out his tongue, concentrating on programming the coffee maker. 

Cisco was so preoccupied with everything on his mind that it wasn’t until he took out the huge, _full_ bag of grapes and brought them to the counter that he registered Harry’s comment.

He whirled to stare at him. Harry wasn’t even facing him as he fought the coffee maker’s settings for a new pot of coffee. It gave Cisco time to think through the implications. 

The grapes had been – they’d eaten them on the _second_ loop. On the _kissing day_.

Cisco had never been good at playing things close to the vest ever in his life. If he’d been slightly more diabolical, he’d have waited, needled at Harry, destabilized him until he admitted the truth – but that wasn’t who Cisco was. 

“Oh my god,” he said. “You remember _everything_.”

Harry froze, his back ramrod straight. His body language gave him away immediately, the air of guilt practically wafting off of him. “Ramon,” he said.

“No, you don’t get to talk,” Cisco said, stalking over to him. Harry turned to face him but refused to make eye contact as Cisco poked him in the chest. “You let me believe I was the only one who remembered each loop! You lied to us!”

Harry’s eyes narrowed, defensive. “I didn’t _lie_ to you,” he declared. “I merely went along with the assumption that I didn’t remember anything. It could have saved our lives if I needed to fool the meta, Ramon.”

“That smells like 100% bullshit,” Cisco told him. “For some reason, you didn’t want me to know that you were remembering each day too.” His mind filtered through the variables – even if somehow keeping Harry’s memories from Cassandra de Leon would have been smart, it made little sense to hide that information from their allies. Harry could have remembered something Cisco hadn’t, contributed information that Cisco couldn’t. “I don’t know why you would do that – you could have remembered information that could have helped us.”

“I didn’t have anything to add to your thorough analysis,” Harry said stiffly. “If you’d missed something, I’d have mentioned it.” 

Cisco didn’t buy that explanation. There was no strategic reason that Cisco could think of for the deception, so that had to mean it was personal, and tied up in all the other things Cisco was trying very hard not to think about until after they solved their time loop issue.

After all, Harry remembered _everything_. That meant that Harry remembered kissing him.

All of the pieces slotted into place. “You thought the second day was a throwaway!” Cisco accused, pointing at Harry. “That’s why you acted like such a weirdo all day!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Harry said. His eyebrow twitched. Behind him, the coffee machine stopped pouring and beeped, announcing the presence of caffeine. Neither Harry nor Cisco paid it any attention. 

“You realized we were in a time loop and thought I wouldn’t remember anything you did,” Cisco continued. “You thought you had a freebie to just...do what you wanted.” His mind boggled – both that Harry had caught on to the Groundhog Day phenomenon so much faster than he had and that somehow, _kissing Cisco_ was somewhere on Harry’s list of things he wanted to do with no consequences. Cisco followed the train of thought, considering what it would feel like to have a day like that and then wake up the next morning and have another person, _the inadvisable person he’d kissed_ , admit that he remembered everything. “Did you lie because you were…embarrassed?" 

“We don’t have time for this conversation,” Harry said, spinning abruptly and grabbing his coffee. He brushed past Cisco on his way out of the kitchen, his body a firm line of repressed frustration.

“Oh, we are _absolutely_ having this conversation!” Cisco yelled after him as his stomach rumbled again. He piled Cecile’s grapes in a bowl for his breakfast and headed after him, but Harry was long gone.

Cisco spent the afternoon trying to corral Harry, but unfortunately for him, Harry spent the afternoon avoiding the workshop, his rooms, the cortex, and the speed lab. Cisco wondered if he’d created a secret hidey hole or run back to Earth-2 in a panic – both were in character. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do much about Harry’s emotional constipation, so he spent time with the rest of the team instead.

The day filtered into evening. Harry reappeared briefly to grab some dinner and then vanished again, confirming Cisco’s theory that he had a secret hidey-hole somewhere in the building that nobody knew about. He refused to look Cisco in the eye or talk to him. Cisco’s stomach churned helplessly. Was the way Harry had acted on the second loop so terrible that he was _this_ embarrassed? 

Cisco cornered Caitlin in the infirmary as the snow piled up further into the evening. By his calculations, Looper had at that point stolen the painting, unhindered by Team Flash’s attempts to retrieve it, so it was time to enjoy the rest of his night. He held the bottle of rye whiskey that he knew Caitlin stored in the infirmary and waved it enticingly at her.

“What do you say to drinks and a movie?” he asked. “I’ll set up the screen in the conference room, we’ll get the fam together?”

Caitlin smiled at him, then made a face at one of the monitors showing the storm. “Well, unless you breach me home, I’m not leaving here tonight, so I’m down for a sleepover movie night.” She rescued the bottle of rye whiskey from him and patted it reassuringly. “And it’s been such a quiet couple of weeks, maybe it’s good for us to do something normal to help with team bonding.”

Cisco laughed to himself. It wasn’t so quiet anymore, but Caitlin didn’t remember that. He found himself hoping desperately that this would be the last repeat day – it was getting exhausting. He didn’t know what he’d do if he woke up the next day and it was November 15th again.

“I’ll get the movie set up,” he said, heading down to the abandoned conference room near the speed lab and pulling out the couches that lived in one corner. There was a screen in the ceiling that came down, the projector still in working order. They used that setup to enjoy occasional movie nights, although not as many as Cisco would have liked. Cisco hooked the projector up wirelessly to his network, pulled out the tablet he used to connect it to all the major streaming platforms, and headed for the break room to make some popcorn.

His phone buzzed in his pocket while he was en route through the hallway. He pulled it out to find Iris’s face buzzing at him.

“ _Cisco_ ,” she said, urgency in her voice. “ _There’s a meta here, at the west entrance to S.T.A.R. Labs. She wants to talk to Vibe.”_

Oh no. Oh, _no_. Since they hadn’t come to her, for some reason, Looper had decided to come to them.

But why would she do that when she could get away scot free? 

“I’ll head up and have a chat with her,” he said, returning to the workshop and grabbing his goggles and coat. He took the elevator up to the west entrance, the same one where he and Caitlin and Harry had spent time in the snow the loop before. As he exited the elevator and headed for the door, he saw the lurking, tall figure of Harry waiting by it, pulse rifle ready and face a thunder cloud. Iris must have called him too.

“Let’s go,” was all Harry said as he pushed open the door to the outside.

Cold hit them like a wall. The temperature had plummeted since the last time Cisco had been outside, in the early afternoon, and the snow was still coming down, coating the world in white. Looper stood in the circle of light thrown by one of the building’s spotlights, snow covering her hair and her pink coat. She was carrying the black bag she always used to hold the painting. She looked small and cold, and Cisco wondered why a meta who could bend reality literally to her will was waiting for them in the snow. 

Cisco signaled Harry to stay back and stepped forward into the light with her. “Why are you here?” he asked. “We were going to let you get away with it, this time.”

“You thought if I could steal the painting, the loop would stop?” Cassandra de Leon asked, her dark eyes sad. She shook her head. “That would only work if I was the one creating the loop. I’m not.” 

Cisco didn’t dare look at Harry. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“The moment I open this bag and remove the painting, he’s going to reset time again,” she whispered. “I tried not to get you involved again, but I didn’t know where else to go. Can you help me?”

Cisco stared at her in shock, slowly recalibrating his assumptions about the situation. “So you’re not the cause of the time loop,” he said at last.

Cassandra shook her head. “I’m not the cause,” she said, her eyes sad. “I’m the target.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! As always, you can find me on [tumblr](https://saucy-kate.tumblr.com/)!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic earns its content rating this chapter, so please read with care if you'd prefer to avoid sexually explicit content! For more info, please see my notes at the end.

Cisco allowed Cassandra de Leon to come inside with the painting, although Harry kept his rifle pointed at her the entire time. De Leon – it didn’t feel appropriate to call her Looper anymore since they’d completely misread her powers – wrung out her hair and brushed snow off of her coat as she walked inside.

Harry took the power dampener and handed it to her. “We know you can break out of this,” he said gruffly. “But if you wear it and keep it activated, we won’t lock you in a cell. For now.”

She nodded and he snapped the cuff around her wrist, where it glowed green with confirmation. After she was cuffed, Cisco led her upstairs to the cortex, where everyone else was watching then with wide eyes.

“Is someone going to explain what just happened?” Iris asked, hands on her hips. “Who is this meta and why does she seem to know you two?”

Cisco was _really_ tired of explaining the plot of Groundhog Day over and over again – he decided that Harry, who had gotten out of previous explanations by way of faked amnesia, was the one to field this one. Cisco turned and gave him an imploring look. Harry made a face at him. Cisco made a face back, and Harry gave in easily, always a sucker despite his salty exterior.

“We’re trapped in a day that keeps reoccurring over and over again,” Harry said, his voice gaining the intensity that it normally did when he was explaining something that no one else would understand. “Cisco and I are the only two of our team who remember the repeated loops." 

Caitlin’s eyebrows went practically through her hairline. She leaned over into Cisco’s space to whisper, not very quietly, “that’s convenient.” He swatted her.

“The looping is definitely related to the painting that Ms. De Leon is carrying,” Harry added, pointing at the black bag. “But we haven’t figured out why exactly it occurred. Today, we tried to keep everything normal and not interfere with Ms. De Leon’s—ahem—acquisition of the painting, to see if it would allow time to reset and the day to end normally. But as you can see, here she is.”

“Here I am,” De Leon said with a shrug. “It’s not me who’s causing the loops. Well, technically I am,” she added. “But I don’t have the power that created them.”

“Are you saying it really _is_ a cursed painting?” Cisco asked. “That’s dope.”

Harry rolled his eyes at him visibly, making sure Cisco saw it. Cisco made a face at him again. Despite that he was still angry about being lied to, something in his stomach grew warm, and he felt a seed of hope within himself once more that maybe he and Harry would be okay.

“In a way, yes, that’s exactly what it is,” Cassandra said. “But the curse isn’t from the painting itself. Rathburn knew I wanted it back, he knew I’d do anything to get it back, so he used his powers on it so that it would reset time if it was ever removed from the theater with me in the vicinity.”

“Woah, hold up,” Cisco said. “Rathburn has powers too?” He snapped his fingers. “ _He’s_ Looper!” 

“Not the point right now, Ramon,” Harry said. 

“Who’s Rathburn?” Barry asked, wearing his confused puppy dog look.

“Basil Rathburn,” Iris said, reading off the computer screen where she’d clearly looked him up. “He owns the Sunset Theater Company. Made millions as a venture capitalist in the early part of his career and used the money to invest in the arts. He’s also a huge philanthropist and donates to a lot of local charities and initiatives.” She frowned. “He hardly seems like the kind of guy who would put a curse on a painting.”

“You don’t think a guy who’s obsessed with the arts would put a curse on a painting?” Cisco asked. “Clearly you haven’t spent enough time with artists.” He ignored the twinge of grief for Dante the thought brought out – the reason he was so familiar with creative weirdoes was because of his brother.

“What’s so special about this painting?” Harry asked. “It’s a basic portrait. Who even cares?”

De Leon’s face grew fierce. “ _I_ care,” she said. “I painted it when I first met Basil.” Cisco noted the switch from last to first name and the way her voice went soft. “He pulled me out of a dark place, and I filled this painting with every last bit of love I had for him, trying to show it to the world. It was our greatest treasure when we were married.” She shrugged. “My art doesn’t have that spark anymore. I want it back.”

“Rathburn told us you two had been separated for ten years,” Harry said suspiciously, starting to walk in a tight circle around her like a predator circling its prey. Cisco tried not to find the whole thing incredibly hot and failed miserably. “Why steal the painting now? Why not when you first separated?”

She laughed bitterly. “Oh, I tried for years to get it every other way first,” she said. “I’m no criminal; I’m an artist. But when I discovered I had these powers, I realized I could take the time to train and use them to take back what was mine. I’m tired of Basil’s games.” She met Harry’s gaze with equal intensity, reminding Cisco a bit of Cecile. “Are you going to help me get the curse off of it, or are we just going to keep reliving this day over and over again?”

“What happens if we just leave it in the bag?” Cisco asked. “If it can’t see anyone, bam, the day changes over, right?”

“Wrong,” De Leon corrected, fumbling in her pocket and pulling out a piece of paper. “Rathburn knew I was coming for the painting eventually and wrote me a note explaining why I shouldn’t bother stealing it. Even if you don’t lay eyes on it, if it’s located anywhere other than the theater when the clock strikes midnight, the day will reset automatically.” 

“What an annoying power,” Harry muttered. 

Cisco took the note from her and skimmed it. It was filled with crowing over winning a lawsuit several years before, but also provided a great explanation of the parameters of the curse. If the painting was removed from the theater with her nearby, it would reset the moment it saw another person. If it was removed from the theater and didn’t see another person, or if De Leon hired someone else to steal it and kept it away from her, it would still reset at midnight of that day. Rathburn could presumably remove the time loop curse whenever he chose, so it was clearly a smart bit of security, even if the note itself was pompous. 

“Brilliant idea,” Cisco said, snapping his fingers. “What if we return the painting to the theater before midnight?”

“The day turns over,” De Leon said. “But then when I steal it again, tomorrow begins to loop.”

Harry rubbed his temples and muttered something that sounded like “at least it wouldn’t be today.”

“What if we brought it to another universe?” Cisco continued. “I could breach it to a dead Earth. No repeats there.” 

De Leon regarded him unhappily. “And then how do I take ownership of it?”

Cisco shrugged – he was just making suggestions.

“Look,” De Leon said, hands on her hips. “I came to you because I thought you could help me solve this. I’m not giving the painting back and I’m not going to change to steal it on another day just because you’re sick of this one. I’m living this day over and over again until I find a way to keep this painting for myself or until Rathburn gets sick of the loop. I’ll drive him crazy eventually.”

Iris was smiling at her. “You’re stubborn,” she said. She turned to the group. “I like her. We’re going to help her.”

“Well, if the boss says we’re going to help her,” Barry says. “Who am I to argue?”

“I’d like to point out that we haven’t even verified her story yet,” Harry said, tapping on a dry erase board with the tip of a marker for emphasis. “This could be an elaborate ruse.” 

“I agree with Harry,” Caitlin chimed in. “We need a way to confirm her story is true before we try to help her.”

De Leon handed the bag with the painting over to Caitlin. “That’s easy,” she said. “Let the clock run to midnight with the painting still inside. Then go see Rathburn before I steal the painting. He has no reason to lie, he’ll confirm everything I said. He’s _proud_ of his anti-theft measures.” She parked herself in one of the desk chairs like she owned the place. “I’m fine to wait right here until the timeline resets again.”

Cisco frowned. “That means we have to live this day again,” he said. “Do you know how tired I am of this day?”

De Leon shrugged. “I’m going a little crazy myself, but if we feel this way, Rathburn does too. I’m going to find a way to break this, with or without you.”

Cisco glanced at his watch. It was 8:10 in the evening. “Looks like we have enough time to do movie night after all,” he said. He glanced awkwardly at Cassandra, who was spinning in the chair like she didn’t have a care in the world. He tossed her a grin. “How do you feel about the movie Groundhog Day?”

“We are _not_ watching Groundhog Day,” Harry said immediately. “I’m never watching Groundhog Day again. Ever. Assuming we get out of this.”

“Rathburn will get sick of looping eventually,” De Leon reassured him. “If all else fails, he’ll remove the curse. Maybe after a month or two?”

Cisco couldn’t imagine doing a full _week_ of this, much less a month or two – he was already starting to feel like he was going in circles. From the downright murderous look on Harry’s face, he wasn’t thrilled with the idea either.

They ended up watching some mindless comedy movie, piled onto the couches in the empty conference room. Even De Leon joined them, sitting in the corner away from the rest of them.

The team seemed to conspire, and Harry and Cisco ended up side by side on the couch, Cisco practically sprawling on the armrest in an attempt to give Harry some space. It was initially uncomfortable, and Cisco paid less attention to the movie than to Harry next to him, but eventually the sense of comfort and the warmth of Harry’s body caused his eyelids to droop. Just as he was lulled to sleep, he dropped his head on Harry’s shoulder.

Harry glanced over and gave him a soft pat on his head, fond and comfortable, and Cisco was out like a light.

* * *

Britney Spears woke Cisco up at 8:15, right on schedule. He shot awake, half expecting to find himself in the conference room with his head in Harry’s lap, but no—he was back in his bed, and it was November 15th once more. 

De Leon had been right, he thought. The loop did reset at midnight if they didn’t look at the painting beforehand. So if De Leon was determined to drive Rathburn insane to get him to break the loop, where did that leave them?

Cisco was also starting to feel like he was slowly going slowly off the rails, in no doubt helped along by Harry’s behavior. He was so tired of living the same day over and over again. He was so tired of feeling Harry’s lips press against his every time he closed his eyes. How was he supposed to move on from the events that had happened technically four days before if he kept living the same day over again?

He didn’t feel like he’d gotten any sleep in days, and weariness made him feel reckless, like nothing could touch him. The day was just going to repeat again, over and over again – why couldn’t he take one loop and just _enjoy_ himself? After all, Harry had gotten his free day.

He breached right into the cortex once he was dressed and was relieved to find it empty. A quick search in the database for Cassandra de Leon revealed her contact information, including her cell number. It was a bit of an invasion of her privacy, but she was reliving the loops too and they were practically acquaintances by now, so Cisco rattled off a quick text message. ‘ _This is Vibe. I’m taking a break this loop_ ,’ he said. ‘ _See you ‘tomorrow’?’_  

He headed down to the workshop, having trouble deciding between having fun without Harry and dragging Harry along. Regardless of his final choice, he had to let Harry know he was taking a loop off – Harry would wake up and panic if Cisco just vanished.

“Hey, asshole,” he said, walking over and smacking Harry’s shoulder. “Wake up.”

Harry blinked awake the same as he always did, looking at Cisco blearily. “Ramon?” he asked.

“I’m exhausted,” Cisco said, dropping into the desk chair across from him. “This is my fifth straight day doing this. I don’t even remember getting any sleep.”

“We have enough of a lead that maybe we can stop Rathburn—“ Harry began.

“No,” Cisco interrupted. “I’m not stopping Rathburn during this loop. I’m not doing any work at all during this loop. You know what I _am_ going to do?”

Harry watched him, his brow creased with worry. “You’re not doing any work at all during this loop?” he repeated. “How many of these do you plan to live through?”

“At least one more than this,” Cisco said decisively, feeling recklessness again curling through him. It was that recklessness that made him stand up and crowd into Harry’s space, the breath shared between them a silent challenge. “So what’s your choice, Harry?” he asked quietly, his voice barely a murmur. “Play hooky with me?” He was so close that his breath skirted across Harry’s ear, and he was gratified to see Harry tremble slightly.

Harry closed his eyes, like a prayer.

“Ramon…” he said. “Cisco. Are you sure?” He opened his eyes again and fixed his intense gaze square on Cisco’s face.

Cisco wasn’t sure what he was asking. _Are you sure you want me?_ (Cisco had wanted him for two straight years of longing). _Are you sure we can blow off a day?_ (Cisco was pretty sure no one would know but them). 

It didn’t really matter what the question was, Cisco realized. His answer to Harry was always going to be ‘yes’.

“Absolutely,” he said fervently. “Are _you_ sure?”

Harry’s eyes were filled with terrified hope, shaking Cisco to his core. The small waves of anger that Cisco had been riding in the wake of Harry’s lie vanished as quickly as they’d arrived. Cisco tilted his face up, making sure not to break eye contact with Harry, and smiled his sunniest smile.

Harry closed his eyes again, like Cisco was too bright for him, and nodded once. “I’ll join you,” he said. “But tomorrow,” his voice grew hoarse, and he cleared his throat to continue, “tomorrow we are dealing with Rathburn.”

“Deal,” Cisco said, holding out his hand for a handshake. Harry eyed it like a poisonous snake. “Seriously? You can shake my hand.” _I want you to touch me all the time_ , Cisco wanted to add. _I never want you to stop._ But some things were best left unsaid, especially since Harry seemed like he was on the verge of having a panic attack.

Slowly, tentatively, Harry reached his hand out and shook Cisco’s. His palm was warm.

Cisco’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and Cisco let go of Harry’s hand to check it. The text was from Cassandra de Leon.

_‘I’m still stealing the painting again, with or without you.’_

He sighed. “De Leon is stubborn,” he said, showing Harry the text. Harry raised his eyebrows.

“You texted her?”

“Wanted to make sure she didn’t come looking for us when I decided to blow today off,” Cisco told him. “Maybe something will shake loose while we’re playing hooky, help us solve this stupid loop.” Despite his words, most of his frustration at the looping had vanished with the look that Harry had given him earlier – he was starting to wonder if the situation had been a gift rather than a curse.

A gift rather than a curse…

He snapped his fingers. “What if we’re looking at this the wrong way?” he asked. “What if we’ve been acting like De Leon and Rathburn are enemies when in reality, the reason this is happening is because they still want to be together?”

“Cisco,” Harry said, “they’ve been separated for ten years.”

“So?” Cisco asked. “Human feelings are messy.” He patted Harry on the chest and headed towards the door. “Do you have anything in your wardrobe besides black? You’re going to want it for where we’re going.” Harry made a face at him.

Cisco stopped in the speed lab on his way to the break room to grab Cecile’s grapes and a thermos of coffee. Caitlin, Barry, and Iris glanced up as he approached.

“How’s it going?” he asked.

Barry gave him his most pathetic look. “I vibrated through the floor and landed on Mrs. Finkelstein’s cat in my sleep,” he said. Cisco was glad that the time loop gods had blessed Barry with amnesia for each repeat; waking up to landing on a cat for five mornings straight would have driven anyone insane.

“That sucks. Hey, Harry and I are going on an adventure to, uh, gather materials for this new project I’m working on,” Cisco said. “So don’t worry if you can’t find us. I’ll breach us back by the end of the day.” 

Iris and Barry exchanged a look. Caitlin wiggled her eyebrows at him. “Gather materials, huh?”

“ _Yes_ , gather materials,” Cisco said, sticking his tongue out at her. “Shut up.” The thing between him and Harry—and how weird was that, now there was a _thing_ between him and Harry—was so fragile that he didn’t want to breathe a word about it, even if his friends wouldn’t remember the conversation anyway.

“Have fun,” Iris said, the smirk on her mouth betraying exactly how much fun she thought they would be having.

“I hate all of you,” Cisco said, but when he turned to leave, there was a smile on his face.

In the kitchen, he found a small cooler and filled it with the bag of grapes and a few cans of Iris’s LaCroix. He pulled a heavy duty thermos out of one of the lower cabinets and filled it with coffee. All prepared, he returned to the workshop, where he found Harry waiting for him in black cargo pants and a black t-shirt. 

“See, I said you should find something other than black,” Cisco said. “Also, you’re going to want your hat.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Ramon, where are you planning on taking us? The beach? I hate the beach.”

“Of course you hate the beach,” Cisco sighed, mentally rearranging his plan for the day. “Do you have a better idea?”

Harry glanced at the cooler bag slung over Cisco’s shoulders. He went over to the computer and pulled up Google Maps. Cisco leaned over his shoulder, intrigued, as Harry began to search along the California coastline. Finally, he stopped on a spot. “Here. Can you breach us here?”

Cisco squinted at the geography. “I think so,” he said. “What’s there?”

“On your Earth? We’ll find out.”

“Very helpful,” Cisco said, sticking out his tongue. 

“On my Earth, there’s an overlook,” Harry added. “We went on vacation and stopped there, once, a long time ago.” He walked over to the spare blanket that they kept around the workshop (since one or both of them usually ended up falling asleep there at least once a week) and folded it up, slinging it over his shoulder.

“So what are the odds I’m going to breach us into the ocean?” Cisco asked.

“Hopefully minimal,” Harry told him dryly, putting on his coat. “It’s not exactly warm there either, so I doubt it would be pleasant.”

Cisco sighed – sunshine and warm weather had been part of his plan, damn it! – but he was and always would be a sucker for Harry Wells. He put his coat on, gathered the cooler bag, and studied the map of California, getting a feel for Harry’s chosen location in the universe.

“You know,” he said, “I could just take us to the Earth-2 version of this place.”

Harry shook his head, surprisingly vehement. “No changing Earths. We don’t know how far the looping has an effect, and jumping to another Earth could bring the time loops there, too. I won’t risk bringing Jesse into this.”

“It could also break us out of the loop,” Cisco pointed out, but he knew Harry was right – it wasn’t worth the risk. Although… “Do you think the reason you remember each loop is because you’re from a different Earth?”

“That’s been my assumption,” Harry said. “I vibrate at a different frequency, after all.”

Cisco nodded, still trying to locate the Californian coast in the universe. He envisioned the vibrations, matched where they were in space-time, and pulled open a breach. Harry made like he was going to go through and Cisco held a hand up to stop him. He poked his head through first, making sure they weren’t going to fall off a cliff or into the ocean.

The breach opened up into a small grassy area along the rocky coastline of central California, overlooking the ocean. Unlike in Central City, it was a mild morning, with a chilly wind coming off of the ocean, and the sky was mostly clouds with some sneak peeks of blue.

Cisco popped back into the workshop. “It’s safe,” he said. Harry examined him carefully for a moment before ducking through the breach. Cisco followed on his heels and closed the breach behind him. 

The overlook area was empty since it was still early in the morning in California; nobody had seen them breach in. Harry walked to a spot on the grass where they had a good view of the ocean and unfolded the blanket. The wind whipped around them and tried to carry the blanket off, and Cisco quickly jumped into help him. The tips of his ears were slightly chilly as the wind sent his hair everywhere, but it was nothing like the cold in Central City. He was still glad he’d worn his coat.

They sat on the blanket quickly to anchor it, Cisco setting down the cooler on one of the edges that was most affected by the wind. Then, there was awkward silence. Cisco could feel his nerves sending his heartbeat into a heavy staccato as the reality of where they were, what they were doing, set in. They were on a _date_. Neither of them had said the word, but this was a _date_. This was a date with him and Harry.

Harry watched the sea for awhile and Cisco studied his profile, trying to calm his nerves.

“Why did you kiss me?” he finally asked. “You thought that was your throwaway day. You could have done anything. Why was your no-consequences action to kiss _me_?” 

Harry turned and looked at him, his eyes reflecting the grey of their surroundings. “Because I wanted to,” he said unhelpfully.

“Okaaay,” Cisco drew out the long vowel of the word. “But you could have kissed me on a day when it mattered, too. Did you think I would reject you? Were you scared?”

“I wasn’t _scared_ ,” Harry said scathingly. “Do we really have to have this conversation?”

Harry may have needed gentle handling when his feelings were concerned, but Cisco had always been the type of person to barrel straight into a problem and leave chaos in his wake. “Yes, we really do, because you’re a terrible communicator, and you’ve been acting totally bananas lately.”

Harry glared at him. “I have not been acting ‘totally bananas’.” Cisco could almost feel the air quotes even though Harry didn’t deign to use them.

“Let’s see,” said Cisco. “The moment you realized we were in a time loop, before you even tested the parameters of that loop, you decided you were going to have your free-for-all day _immediately_ and that involved not leaving my side, flirting with me, and then kissing me during a mission. After that, you lied and faked that you didn’t _remember_ that, pretending we were normal for two more loops until I finally caught you in it. Your lie may have been an omission but it also may have made it harder to solve the loop problem in the first place, which you obviously know because you’re not a stupid person, so you must have been really freaked out to feel like it was worth it.” Cisco frowned, frustrated, and ran a hand through his hair. “And the worst part is, I kissed you back! I was totally into it! So I have no idea why you’re so embarrassed!”

Harry sighed. “I’m aware that I’ve been acting irrationally,” he said.

“And yet not totally bananas,” Cisco pointed out.

Harry made a face. “Maybe I’m objecting more to your terrible slang than the intent behind it.”

“Maybe you should use more terrible slang and light up your life a bit,” Cisco shot back.

Harry watched the ocean without saying anything. Cisco looked out at it too – it was lovely, reflecting the grey from the clouds, and the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks below was a chorus in the background.

“You have to understand, Ramon,” Harry said finally, his voice fraught with barely-contained tension. “I crossed a line that day, a line I promised myself I never would. And I did it for a stupid reason: because it seemed like for once, I could have what I wanted without consequences, without power dynamics, without feeling like I was taking advantage of you.” He curled his hand into a fist by his side. “I should have known the universe is cruel even when it seems kind.”

Cisco blinked, his heart tight in his chest. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“I swore to myself long ago that no matter how much I…cared for you…I wouldn’t act on it,” Harry growled. “There are countless reasons why this is something I shouldn’t do.”

“Is one of those reasons that you’re a jackass?” Cisco asked. “Because I was already aware of that one.”

“I’m a jackass,” Harry acknowledged. “I’m also significantly older than you are. I share a face with a man who tried to kill you. I was born in a completely different universe.” Harry fell silent, studying the sea.

Cisco swallowed hard. “I think the different universe thing is…well, what were the odds? We had two whole universes of people and somehow we still found each other.” He felt his cheeks heat and was thankful that blushing wasn’t perceptible with his complexion. “You’re from so far away that I can’t believe I found you.” He slowly raised his eyes to meet Harry’s.

Harry was watching him, face unreadable. “It seems unfair that I should get to feel this way twice. When Tess died…” he swallowed hard and closed his eyes before recomposing himself. “When Tess died, I believed that I would never...” he trailed off.

Cisco’s heart was beating rapidly in his ears at the comparison to Tess. “You’re in love with me?” he asked, mortified that his voice came out practically a squeak.

Harry didn’t answer and looked away again, watching the sea. 

“Hey,” Cisco said, leaning over and hooking his fingers under Harry’s chin. He slowly turned Harry’s face to look at him again. “Don’t look away. I don’t blame you. I’m totally awesome.” 

The corners of Harry’s mouth turned up in a slight smile. “My feelings shouldn’t be your problem, Ramon,” he said. 

Cisco didn’t take his eyes from Harry’s. “I’ve never been in love like that,” he confessed. “I don’t even know what it feels like. I’ve had people I could have fallen in love with, people I’ve liked a lot, I’ve had my heart broken. But…I don’t have anything to compare this to.” He paused and looked down. Licked his lips. “But this…feels like what everyone says it feels like.” 

The silence went on for so long that Cisco finally had to look up and meet Harry’s gaze. Harry was staring at him like he’d been shocked silly, drawn tight as a bowstring. Cisco ached to scoot closer, to bridge that three-foot gap between them and take Harry’s hands in his, to kiss him again, but he knew it had to be Harry’s move.

“I haven’t done this since Tess,” Harry told him. “Had… _feelings_ for someone.” He spat the word feelings out like it personally offended him. “I don’t know what I’m doing, Ramon.” 

Studying him, Cisco realized that he would have to handle Harry carefully. He was still pretty messed up from losing Tess years before, and Cisco seemed to scare him silly. 

Cisco scooted closer on the blanket, leaning into Harry’s warmth. Harry stiffened and didn’t move, almost like he was afraid to breathe. Cisco leaned over and grinned up at him, almost cheeky. “If only you had an endlessly recurring loop of time to figure out what you’re doing,” he said. 

Slowly, Harry brought his arms up to wrap around Cisco. The wind felt far less harsh with them huddled together, sharing body heat. Cisco’s heart was in his throat – his stomach fluttered and his chest felt tight.

When Harry spoke again, his voice was a pleasant rumble against Cisco’s ear, sending shivers down Cisco’s spine. “We don’t have time for me to use the time loop to do that,” he said softly. “We have to solve it.”

“Tomorrow,” Cisco said. “Tomorrow, we’ll go see Rathburn and get his side of the story. There has to be a win-win situation where Rathburn can remove the curse from the painting and De Leon can have it.” He yawned, Harry’s warmth reminding his body that he hadn’t had a truly good night’s sleep in days. 

Harry ran one of his hands through Cisco’s hair, playing with the strands. “Divorces are messy. There may not be a solution that they’ll both accept.”

Cisco yawned again, Harry’s hands in his hair sending sparks down his spine and adding to his general feeling of tiredness. “Then we’ll find one anyway,” he said. “We’re Team Flash.” 

He felt pressure at his hairline, like Harry had pressed a kiss onto the top of Cisco’s head. This affectionate, tactile Harry was someone new, someone he hadn’t seen before, but he was quite a fan of him.

Cisco’s eyelids began to droop, and he curled further into Harry. Before he knew it, he was asleep, the wind on his face and Harry’s hand tangled in his hair.

He didn’t know how long he drifted – occasionally Harry shifted beneath him and Cisco felt himself stretching back towards consciousness, but the warmth of Harry’s body kept him drowsing. When he finally did blink his eyes open once more, some of the clouds had burnt off and the sun was climbing high in the sky. He was overheating in his coat, even with the chilly wind still present.

Harry had pulled them down to spoon together on the blanket, his arms pulling Cisco close against him. When Cisco turned to look at him, he saw that Harry had dozed off as well – probably unsurprising, considering Cisco kept waking him up at the worktable every loop. He watched him sleep for a few minutes, studying how the stern lines of his face smoothed out, made him look younger. His heart ached, but it was a good ache, like he couldn’t believe that this was really happening.

They spent a couple hours dozing in the weak November sun. When they both were finally awake again, Cisco belatedly remembered the thermos of coffee and broke it out – thankfully, it was one of those heavy duty thermoses that kept beverages warm for hours. They sipped at the coffee and spread the bag of grapes between them. Cisco threw a grape that bounced off the bridge of Harry’s nose, earning a sour look in return. He beamed back at him and Harry’s look shifted in intensity.

Suddenly, Harry closed the distance between them, pushing the grapes out of the way to get right in Cisco’s face. Cisco licked his lips. “Dude, it was a grape,” he said.

Harry leaned down, eyes bright, and pressed his mouth against Cisco’s in a tentative kiss that felt like a question.

Cisco was startled, but he kissed Harry back, pulling on the collar of Harry’s coat to get closer. Harry’s kissing grew more confident once he realized how much Cisco was into it, and Cisco wrapped his arms around Harry’s neck to keep his balance. Harry kissed with the intensity that he did all things, firm and careful, mapping Cisco’s mouth with his own. Cisco felt like he was about to shake apart, his heart beating wildly in his ears.

Harry pulled him into his lap, kissing a trail from his mouth down the side of his throat, gently nipping at him as Cisco made a totally embarrassing sound. Cisco tried to regain his bearings, but before he could, Harry was kissing his mouth again, firm and insistent, pulling Cisco up with two firm hands on his hips to straddle his lap. Cisco was vaguely aware that this was quickly getting inappropriate for being in public, but it was hard to really care when Harry’s hands were warm against him.

Harry began to undo his coat and Cisco broke the kiss, leaning back to put some distance between them before his head became even more clouded. “Woah, Harry,” he gasped. Harry licked his lips and watched him, pupils enormous. “Should we maybe…go somewhere else?”

Harry glanced around as if coming back to himself, noting that there were a few other cars in the parking lot and people scattered around the space of the overlook. Nobody had paid them much mind, but if they continued making out, Cisco thought they eventually would attract attention.

Harry let out a shaky breath and pressed his forehead to Cisco’s. “Do you want to go?” he asked breathlessly. 

Cisco swallowed hard. “Yeah,” he said hoarsely. “I could do that.” 

He stood up from Harry’s lap with shaking legs, gathering their belongings. He helped Harry up with a hand. Harry quickly grabbed the blanket, not even bothering to fold it before looking at Cisco expectantly. Cisco felt a giddy laugh threatening to escape; he pressed his mouth in a firm line and concentrated on creating a breach to his apartment.

* * *

The moment they stepped through, Cisco tossed his items to the ground and grabbed the blanket from Harry’s hands so it could join them. He pulled Harry to him and wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling Harry down into another breathless kiss.

Harry’s kisses were less precise than before. He pulled Cisco to him and stroked his hair, ran his hand down Cisco’s neck, and cupped his cheek, like he couldn’t quite believe Cisco was there and needed to touch every inch of him. Cisco made a pleased noise and worked at the fastenings of Harry’s long black coat, pushing it off of his shoulders. Harry tossed it behind him, unheeded, before moving to do the same to Cisco’s coat.

Harry pressed his mouth to the hinge of Cisco’s jaw, running his hands up the soft skin of Cisco’s back under his t-shirt. Cisco began to walk him backwards, herding him towards the bedroom, wanting to be horizontal as soon as possible.

Harry seemed to get the picture because he began to move more quickly in the direction he was being herded, his mouth barely leaving Cisco’s to watch where he was going. Cisco walked him into the bedroom and pushed him flat on his back on the bed, watching Harry glance up at him, blue eyes glazed and hazy.

Cisco pulled his shoes and socks off and pulled his t-shirt over his head in one fell swoop. Harry watched hungrily, not moving until Cisco said, “are you just going to be the audience here?”

Harry huffed a laugh and leaned down to divest himself of his own shoes. He started to unbutton his pants, but Cisco couldn’t wait any longer – he climbed on top of him, kissing him deeply. Harry grasped him by the ass, pulling him closer and grinding their erections together with maddening efficiency.

Cisco gasped into Harry’s open mouth and pulled away, breathing heavy.

Harry studied him, something in his eyes soft. He reached over and cupped Cisco’s cheek with one hand, tangling his fingers in the long strands of hair that fell over them. “You’re so…” he said, his voice husky.

Cisco didn’t know if he could handle a sappy Harry. “Outrageously hot?” he finished for him, leaning in and pressing his mouth to Harry’s neck, finding his pulse point and nipping at him. Harry gave a slight shudder, his eyelids fluttering.

Cisco pulled away from Harry to yank his black shirt up and over his head, tossing it somewhere on the floor. He turned to stare appreciatively at Harry. “Get the fuck out. Are those abs? With all the crap you eat?” 

The back of Harry’s neck began to turn red, and Cisco realized he was blushing. He grinned and pressed his mouth to Harry’s flat stomach, dragging his tongue around his belly button. “This is outrageous. How do you look like this in your fifties? I don’t even look like this in my twenties.”

Harry’s eyes narrowed, and before Cisco could blink, Harry pushed him onto his back, looming over him. “You,” he said, leaning in to nip at Cisco’s ear, “are outrageously attractive. Don’t sell yourself short.” He kissed him again, his mouth so hot it was practically burning. Cisco moaned into the kiss, trying to pull Harry back against him and get some of that delicious friction. Harry pulled away, leaving a trail of kisses to his ear, where he whispered, “tell me what you want, Ramon,” in almost a whine. 

God, Cisco didn’t even know what to say. “I want _everything_ ,” Cisco said mindlessly, and Harry stopped kissing him to give him the most deadpan look. 

“Really?” Harry asked. “Can you…provide more specifics?” 

“Oh, was that not enough of a concrete task for you?” Cisco teased, basking in the heat of Harry’s half-hearted glare.

Harry sat back on his heels, running a hand through his hair and looking incredibly edible. “Ramon. I just. Want this to be good for you.” He looked to the side, not meeting Cisco’s eyes.

Cisco realized he’d accidentally hit one of Harry’s internal land mines and quickly pushed himself up to sitting, pulling Harry over to him and pressing a soft, sweet kiss on his mouth. “Harry,” he said, sure his eyes were shining with the depths of his feelings but unable to hide the tightness in his chest, “it’s already so good for me.”

Harry kissed him again, pulling Cisco against him as tightly as he could. He broke the kiss and took a ragged breath, hands going for Cisco’s fly. “Can I—is this okay?” he asked as he unzipped Cisco’s jeans. Cisco gave a small nod and shimmied his hips so that Harry could his pants and boxers down, toeing them off and kicking them from the bed. Completely naked, Cisco pulled Harry back against him and began working at his pants as well.

Harry swatted him away and moved down Cisco’s body, stroking him gently before taking him completely into his mouth. Cisco yelped with surprise and then moaned, grabbing the sheets in one hand and stroking his fingers through Harry’s hair with the other.

The sureness of Harry’s tongue was completely at odds with the nervous tension that Harry held in his body; Cisco wondered if it was because of sex or because of _him_. Even as his brain sparked and stuttered with pleasure, he could feel his heart pounding with the thought that it was _Harry_ who was doing this, _Harry_ who cared about him. “Harry,” he gasped, licking at his lips and watching him.

Harry pulled off of him with a decisive lick and gave him a piercing stare. “What, Ramon?”

Cisco rolled over onto his stomach and reached for the bedside table, rooting around in it until he located the lube and condoms he kept there. He threw them both at Harry, who gave him a deadpan look as the condom package hit him on the forehead.

“Really?” he asked.

“I hope that’s in response to the fact that I hit you with a condom and not at the thought of having sex with me,” Cisco replied. Harry’s eyes narrowed and he quickly flipped Cisco back onto his front, leaning down to suck a bruise onto the side of Cisco’s neck. Cisco was mortified to hear the loud whine that escaped from his lips.

“Of course I want to have sex with you,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes, pressing his thigh in between Cisco’s legs and watching hawk-like as Cisco threw his head back and gasped. “Don’t be ridiculous.” He scrambled for the lube and looked at Cisco uncertainly. “Do you want to…uh…”

Cisco grabbed the bottle from him, popping open the top and coating his fingers. He reached back to get himself ready and Harry grabbed the bottle from him. 

“I want to,” he declared shortly, his face red. Cisco wanted to tease him about his nerves, but his own heart was practically in his throat. He swallowed hard and nodded, lying back on the bed and propping his legs up. Harry scooted down the bed. Cisco closed his eyes, waiting for Harry’s touch, and the first brush of Harry’s cold fingers against him made him shudder.

“Let me know if this hurts,” Harry murmured, pressing a kiss into the side of Cisco’s thigh and gently pressing a finger inside him. Cisco squirmed against the slight discomfort as Harry slowly opened him up, eyes never leaving Cisco’s face. When he finally got his fingers deep enough inside to brush Cisco’s prostate , Harry smirked triumphantly as Cisco threw his head back and gasped, clutching at the sheets.

“Harry,” Cisco murmured weakly, pulling at his arm. “Harry, I want—“

Harry nodded and withdrew his fingers, stepping back off the bed and pulling off his pants and briefs in one smooth motion. Cisco watched him, entranced, as Harry located the condom he’d thrown at him earlier and ripped it open, sliding it onto himself before coating himself with more lube. Harry climbed back over him and bracketed him, looking down at him.

“Do you want to be on your stomach, or—“

Cisco shook his head. “I want to see you,” he said, and Harry closed his eyes for a hot minute like he was saying a silent prayer.

“Okay,” he said finally, “I can do that,” and pulled one of Cisco’s legs up, skimming his fingertips along the soft skin, lining them up. He slowly pushed in and Cisco grabbed at his shoulders, breathing heavily and mouthing at Harry’s neck. Harry moaned low in his throat and continued, slowly enough that Cisco could adjust to the thickness and feel of him. Every nerve ending in Cisco’s body was alight, and Harry couldn’t stop staring at him like he could barely believe Cisco was the one beneath him.

Cisco reached out and Harry tangled their fingers together. “Harry,” Cisco gasped.

“Tell me if it hurts,” Harry murmured, leaning down to press a kiss to Cisco’s forehead and rocking forward slowly. He reached down with the hand not holding Cisco’s and stroked him in time with his slow, steady thrusts.

Harry never looked away from his face, adjusting his angle until Cisco cried out when Harry brushed against his prostate. Once he found it, he quickly drove Cisco to the brink, reaching up to brush sweaty hair from Cisco’s face and leaning down to kiss him deeply.

Cisco gasped into the kiss, his whole body alight, and he came all over Harry’s hand and his own stomach. Harry’s eyes were glassy with pleasure, but there was smugness in his expression as he pulled his hand away and wiped it on Cisco’s chest.

“Gross,” Cisco panted. “I’m not a tissue.”

“Shut up, Ramon,” Harry practically growled, leaning down to kiss him again and continuing until he shuddered above him, breaking the kiss to bite Cisco’s shoulder as he came inside him.

They laid there for a moment, panting.

“Damn,” Cisco finally said. “I’m actually glad this day is going to repeat so we can do that again.”

Harry laughed weakly and swatted him. “Don’t remind me,” he groaned. After a moment, he gently pulled out of Cisco and trashing the condom. “Sleep, Ramon. Worry about the time loop later.” With that, he buried his face in Cisco’s pillow and promptly passed out. 

Cisco considered him for a moment, still coming down from the high. He rolled out of bed and padded to the bathroom to clean up, rolling his eyes in Harry’s direction as he used a washcloth to rinse off his stomach and chest. He considered showering, but the siren call of Harry’s warm body curled up in his bed was too strong to resist. Cisco put on a pair of sweatpants and climbed back into bed with him, burying his nose in the crook of Harry’s neck.

It took awhile for Cisco to drift off to sleep, still keyed up. It was strange to be in his bed, with Harry sleeping beside him, after the last five days of waking up there over and over at 8:15am. It was strange to think that when he’d woken up that morning, he’d had maybe tentative hopes that something might happen between himself and Harry, but he’d never dreamed that the day would go like it had.

He reached over and stroked a hand through Harry’s hair, smiling as he snuffled into Cisco’s pillow in his sleep.

They weren’t any closer to solving the loops, and a snowstorm was about to descend upon them once more, but Cisco had a warm certainty that with Harry by his side, everything was going to work out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content sensitivity warning (continued): If you would prefer to avoid the explicit parts of this story, I've broken this up so that you can stop reading when Cisco and Harry return to Cisco's apartment - there's a line break there and you won't miss much if you stop there and go on to the next chapter.
> 
> Final chapter should be up around Saturday. Thank you all for reading! I love all of your lovely comments, and please don't hesitate to add me on [tumblr](https://saucy-kate.tumblr.com/) if you so desire!


	5. Chapter 5

Cisco and Harry slept through early evening, when Cisco’s stomach began to growl loud enough to justify needing to eat. The snow was really coming down by that point, the city quiet. Cisco stared out his bedroom window into the snowscape and wrinkled his nose.

“I don’t even know if any restaurants are open,” he grumbled. All he’d eaten that day was a few grapes and he really needed some sustenance.

Instead of suggesting something ridiculous like Big Belly Burger, Harry scooted from the bed, quickly pulled on his pants, and padded out of the bedroom shirtless, his hair a disaster. Cisco raised an eyebrow and followed him into the kitchen.

Harry immediately began to act like he owned the place, checking out Cisco’s fridge and freezer and going through his cupboards.

“Yes, by all means, make yourself at home,” Cisco teased.

Harry scowled at him. “Let me cook you dinner." 

Cisco was surprised. “You cook?" 

“Of course I cook,” Harry said derisively. “I’m a single father. Cooking is a science.” He glanced through the fridge again. “Although it would be easier if you actually spent money on things like food.”

“Hey, I need to go to the grocery store,” Cisco defended, spreading his arms wide. “I’ve been a little busy, y’know, with the day repeating over and over again.”

Harry shuffled over to the pantry and pulled out a box of pasta. “I can make this work,” he said, moving to check out the meager produce that Cisco had in stock. After gathering his ingredients, he investigated the pots and pans and began heating water on the stove.

Cisco seated himself on a stool at the island counter, watching Harry make himself at home in his kitchen barefoot, shirtless, and messy-haired. His heart felt three sizes too wide.

Harry passed him an onion. “Chop this.” 

Cisco eyed it. “I thought you were making _me_ dinner,” he said. 

Harry rolled his eyes. “Ramon, for once, will you take directions without being mouthy?” 

“You love that I’m mouthy,” Cisco shot back, his grin wide and provocative. Harry advanced on him with the clear intent of taking back the onion, but once he got into Cisco’s space, he seemed to get distracted, licking his lips. Cisco couldn’t resist tangling a hand in his hair and reeling him in for a kiss. The onion fell back on the counter, abandoned.

Harry pressed him against the counter and kissed him until the water from the pot boiled over, startling them both into breathless laughter. “You’re distracting,” Harry accused, reaching around Cisco to grab the onion. “How am I supposed to cook with you standing there like that?”

“Standing here like what?” Cisco asked innocently. 

Harry bit his lower lip and gestured at Cisco’s everything. Cisco wiggled his eyebrows at him. “God, you’re going to be incorrigible,” Harry muttered, turning away to stir the pasta and turn down the heat so the water wouldn’t boil over once more. 

“I’m ‘going to be’ incorrigible? I’m not already?” Cisco asked. Needling Harry, always one of his favorite pastimes, had actually become even more fun in the last few hours. 

“You’re going to be even worse,” Harry said. “Now you know my weakness. I’ve made a huge mistake.” 

They were “distracted” several more times before Harry finally drained the pasta and called it ‘good enough’. He whipped together a quick sauce, forcing Cisco to stand on the opposite side of the room to avoid temptation, and when he finally brought Cisco a bowl of the pasta, Cisco dug into it, ravenous. Astonishingly, despite the interruptions, the pasta tasted decent and Cisco ate three bowlfuls. 

It was getting late in the evening. Cisco finally checked his phone and found several missed calls, two from Caitlin and three from Iris. There was also a text from Caitlin that said, ‘ _meta thief downtown! Barry’s on it but could use you for backup’_. Cisco glanced guiltily at the timestamp and saw that she’d sent it nearly two hours before. He’d forgotten to disable the metahuman app’s monitoring alarms that morning.

“Weird,” said Cisco. “De Leon stole the painting again but she hasn’t reset the day yet.” Thank god – if the day had been reset in the middle of banging Harry, Cisco would have been very unhappy. “The team sent Barry after her. I’m going to call Caitlin.” 

He sat on his couch and dialed Caitlin, Harry coming up behind him and curling around him like a cat. Cisco was happy to get as much of tactile Harry as he could get.

“ _Cisco!_ ” Caitlin said when she answered. _“Are you guys back? A meta thief stole a painting from the theater district during the storm. Barry went out to stop her and managed to get the painting from her, but she escaped.”_

“You guys got the painting?” Cisco asked, surprised. “Did you look at it yet?”

There was silence on the other end for a minute. Caitlin finally said, “ _It doesn’t seem to be valuable, it’s just a portrait of some guy. We have it in the cortex._ ”

“So you looked at it,” Cisco said. He shrugged at Harry. 

“The timeline doesn’t reset unless the painting is near De Leon,” Harry reminded him. “If they got it away from her and opened it at S.T.A.R. Labs without her present, she’s probably not close enough to trigger the loop.”

“ _Is that Harry?_ ” Caitlin asked. Cisco could almost hear the smirk in her voice. “ _What’s he saying?”_

“Nothing important,” Cisco lied, not really feeling like explaining the time loop _again_ when they’d just have to explain it in a few hours anyway. “Let me know if anything else changes and we’ll breach over.”

“ _I can do that,”_ Caitlin said. “ _You and Harry have a good night_.” The innuendo in her voice was more than clear.

Cisco hung up with a sigh and switched his phone off silent just in case. “Well, unless De Leon decides to be a jerk and storm S.T.A.R. Labs, we should have until midnight again,” he said.

“She’s irrational about that painting,” Harry said. “She’s going to storm S.T.A.R. Labs before the evening is up.”

“Oh?” Cisco asked, feeling reckless bravery rush through him once more. “What would you be willing to bet?”

Harry looked him up and down slowly. “Don’t tempt me, Ramon,” he said. “This is not a bet you’d want to lose.”

Cisco bit his lip. Harry leaned over and kissed him again, pulling on his hair to better angle their kiss. God, Cisco’s life was _amazing_.

He was just reaching over to unbutton Harry’s pants when his phone began to ring, making the whole couch vibrate. He reluctantly pulled his mouth from Harry’s and pulled the phone to him. It was Caitlin again.

He sighed and answered, still straddling Harry’s lap and trying to slow his breathing to normal levels. “Hello?”

Harry leaned over and sucked a deep kiss into the side of Cisco’s neck, making him squeak into the phone.

“ _…are you okay?_ ” Caitlin asked.

“Fine! I’m fine!” Cisco said quickly, trying to swat Harry away. Harry just grinned and moved lower, nipping at Cisco’s collarbone.

“ _The meta thief just showed up at S.T.A.R. Labs,_ ” Caitlin said. Cisco was suddenly very glad that he had not made a bet with Harry after all.

Cisco was a little distracted since Harry was starting to kiss down his abdomen, stroking him softly through his sweatpants. “She’s at S.T.A.R. Labs?” Cisco repeated, his voice shaky. 

If De Leon was at S.T.A.R. Labs near the painting, he should tell Caitlin—

Harry sucked on the soft skin over his hipbone and Cisco gasped, glaring down at him.

“ _...well you and Harry are clearly busy so I’m going to just, uh, go. We’ll deal with the meta,”_ Caitlin said, laughter in her voice, and hung up. Cisco stared at his phone, feeling his cheeks turn bright red before he burst out laughing.

“Thank god she’s not going to remember that ever happened,” he said, shoving at Harry’s face. “You’re the _worst_.”

Harry’s smirk was outrageously sexy. “Having a problem, Ramon?”

“I have so many problems, and you are _every single one of them_ ,” Cisco said, running his fingers through Harry’s hair and watching how Harry leaned into the touch. The whole situation – him and Harry having sex, flirting, being in his apartment – was all so surreal, it felt like he was going to wake up at any moment.

Just as Harry’s fingers found the waistband of his sweats and pulled them down, the world itself began to go dim around them. Cisco groaned and threw his head back. “Really? Now?” he yelled at the universe as the day reset around them.

* * *

This time when Britney Spears woke him up, Cisco glared up the ceiling. “Good morning to me,” he muttered, swinging himself out of bed, but he was too over the moon to stay aggravated long. He quickly got himself off in the shower, envisioning Harry’s mouth and eyes and _everything,_ and once his frustration faded a bit, he felt a smile threatening to overtake his face again.

God, he had it _bad_.

As Cisco was blow-drying his hair, something caught his eye. He pushed his hair aside to discover a hickey blooming on the side of his neck, courtesy of Harry. Like the burn from the first day, it had apparently carried over from the past loop. Cisco didn’t have any easy way to cover it up so he did his best to style his hair over it.

He pulled on the ‘Particle Collisions Give Me a Hadron’ shirt, feeling like it was appropriate and would make Harry make faces again. After dressing, he opened a breach to the alley behind Jitters, where he bought two Flashes and then breached to S.T.A.R. Labs.

By that point, he could recite the day in his sleep. He bypassed the speed lab to avoid any conversations concerning cats and went straight to his workshop, dropping off his coat and scarf before taking the second Flash over to where Harry slept on the table. He put the coffee down in front of him, leaning over and pressing a kiss against Harry’s forehead. 

Harry startled awake, and Cisco jumped back to avoid being headbutted in the nose. “Cisco?” Harry asked sleepily, opening his eyes slowly. He stared at him, his eyes going dark as the previous day came back to him. “That was unfortunate timing.” 

“Tell me about it,” Cisco groaned. “Let’s get this taken care of so we can bang without having to worry about the day being reset.”

Harry scrambled for his glasses and put them on, frowning at Cisco’s shirt. “I see you’re wearing that one again.” 

“I thought it’d incentivize us to solve this today,” Cisco said with a leer. He pushed the coffee cup containing a Flash towards Harry. “I got you coffee.” 

“You bought me coffee?” Harry was aghast. “You never buy me coffee.”

“Well if you’re going to be my, what, my boyfriend? I gotta treat you right, baby.”

Harry gave him an unimpressed look before taking a huge sip from the cup. “Don’t call me baby,” he said. 

“Okay, babe,” Cisco replied.

“No,” said Harry. “It’s too early for this.”

“Whatever you say, sugar plum,” said Cisco. The look Harry gave him could have murdered a man on sight. “Drink your coffee,” Cisco added.

Harry, astonishingly, did as he was told. 

Cisco leaned in and stole a coffee-flavored kiss. “I’m going to round up the team,” he said. “Meet us in the cortex in ten minutes. Today we end this!” He threw his fist in the air with dramatic flourish before taking his own cup of the Flash and heading up to the speed lab.

Caitlin, Iris, and Barry took one look at him and stopped talking the moment he walked in.

Well, this was new. “What?” he asked.

Caitlin came over and pulled his hair away from his neck, revealing the hickey. “Your hair does not hide this at _all_ , Cisco,” she said. “Spill." 

Cisco felt his cheeks warm again. “It’s a long story, and we actually have a meta situation so I’ll tell you later?”

“At least let me put makeup on that thing,” Iris told him.

“Good point, otherwise Harry will be distracted and sulky,” said Caitlin. 

“Why would Harry be distracted and sulky?” Cisco asked, surprised.

“He has a face he makes when you have dates,” Barry said. “Those are some scary looks.”

Cisco smiled thoughtfully and brought his fingers up to brush the hickey. Barry, Caitlin, and Iris all stared at him again.

“You hooked up with _Harry_?!” Caitlin gasped. 

Cisco jumped. “What! Where did you get that?!”

“I saw that dreamy smile!” Caitlin said, pointing at him. “After we said he made faces! Body language 101.”

“Maybe I’m daydreaming about whoever I banged last night,” Cisco shot back. 

“So you’re daydreaming about Harry,” said Barry. Cisco’s friends were the worst.

“We seriously don’t have time to talk about this,” Cisco told them. “Meet me in the cortex in ten minutes; we really do have a meta situation. I’m going to get Joe and Cecile.”

“If you’re going to see my dad, then you _definitely_ need makeup on that thing,” said Iris. She walked to her purse and dug around in it, pulling up a bottle of her foundation and a small sponge. She walked over to Cisco and dabbed some foundation onto the sponge, pulling his hair back to press it against the mark.

Of course, that was the moment that Harry walked in.

“Oh, _hi Harry_ ,” said Barry, like everything was totally normal and Iris regularly applied makeup to Cisco’s neck for fun. Iris smirked and continued to apply the foundation.

“What is—West, what are you doing?” Harry demanded.

“Covering up the hickey you left on him,” Caitlin said smugly.

Harry whirled to look at Cisco. “You told them?!”

Cisco shook with laughter while Iris, Caitlin, and Barry looked vindicated. “I sure didn’t, but you just did,” he said. Harry made a face like he’d bitten into a lemon. “If you don’t like it, we could always just let the day repeat again...”

“Shut up, Ramon,” Harry said.

Iris stepped back, admiring her handiwork. “You can barely see it,” she said proudly. “No grilling from my dad, now.”

“Perfect,” said Cisco. 

“Aw honey, you’re the best,” Barry cooed, pressing a kiss to Iris’s cheek.

“Let the day repeat again?” Caitlin repeated, apparently the only one who had caught that earlier. “What does that mean?”

“We’ll explain in a minute,” Cisco said. “I’m going to go get Joe and Cecile. Peace out.” He turned and practically ran out of the speed lab, leaving Harry to fend off any further questions. 

After making a quick phone call to Joe to make sure they’d be ready for a pickup, Cisco breached over to Joe and Cecile’s house and brought them back to the cortex. Everyone else was gathered around, and Cisco found himself gravitating towards where Harry stood automatically.

“So,” said Cisco, and everyone turned to look at him. “We’re stuck in Groundhog Day.”

“No way!” Barry exclaimed, getting it immediately. “A time loop? Really? How many times has it looped?”

“Seriously?” Caitlin said. “Is there a meta with that ability?" 

“This is our sixth loop,” Cisco said. “I think.”

Harry nodded. “Sixth.”

All eyes in the room swung from Cisco to stare at Harry. “So you…both…remember all the loops?” Caitlin asked, her eyebrows practically going through her hairline. 

“Cisco’s powers protect him from forgetting,” Harry said. “We don’t know why I remember, but maybe because I’m from another Earth.” Caitlin was giving Cisco a look, one that said ‘we are going to drink wine very soon and talk about this in depth.’

“Can someone explain exactly what’s going on in a way that doesn’t involve references to a 90s movie?” Joe asked, hands on his hips. 

“Oh,” said Cisco. “Yeah, I can do that. We all keep repeating this one day, November 15th, over and over again in a time loop. There are two metas who used to be married fighting over a cursed painting which resets the timeline if it’s not in the correct place at the end of the day.”

“Cursed painting,” Joe repeated. “I need a drink.” 

Cisco and Harry filled them all in on the drama between De Leon and Rathburn. “So the plan today is to go directly to Rathburn himself and find out if we can find a compromise that everyone will agree to.”

“I see,” said Iris. “So De Leon definitely remembers each loop. Does Rathburn?” 

“This is caused by his power, so probably,” said Harry.

“Wait,” Caitlin said with a shrewd look on her face. “This is caused by two metas and neither one has a nickname? Who are you, and what have you done with Cisco?”

“Hey, it’s not my fault! We misunderstood De Leon’s power at first so we called her Looper. Now we know Rathburn is Looper. I still don’t really know what De Leon does; it’s almost like she can teleport objects with her mind. Maybe she’s telekinetic?” 

“Mindblaster,” said Harry.

“Okay, shut up,” said Cisco, mad because it was actually a good nickname. “ _I’m_ the name guy.”

“It’s been easier to use their actual names,” Harry explained to the group. “Believe it or not, he doesn’t always have to use nicknames.”

“So you clearly have some idea of a plan,” Iris said, bringing everyone back to the topic at hand. “What were you guys thinking?”

Cisco exchanged a look with Harry. “It’s not really a plan,” he said carefully. “It’s more…we think there’s more to this story than we’ve been told. _I_ think Rathburn and De Leon still have feelings for each other.”

“So we’re going to play matchmaker for two insanely strong metas?” Barry asked, his face lighting up. “Count me in.”

“Babe,” said Iris, patting him on the arm.

“I still think if they’ve been separated for ten years, matchmaking is not the answer,” Harry disagreed, his arms crossed stubbornly. 

“Are you denying that I’m the love wizard?” Cisco demanded. “That sounds like a challenge.”

“Okay, Team Flash,” said Iris. “Here’s the plan.” She pointed at Cisco and Harry. “I’m going to split you up because you’re the two who remember the past loops. Cisco and Caitlin, you go find Rathburn. Barry and Harry, you track down De Leon. We’ll all keep comms open so we can trade information and figure out the best course of action from our discussions with the metas. You guys can grill them and search for some common ground that can stop this cycle of theft.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Cisco. He looked at Caitlin. “We should get our coats,” he said. “I’ll breach us down to Sunset Theater.”

* * *

It was early enough in the day that only the smell of snow in the air foretold the storm that would bury them later. Cisco and Caitlin emerged from a breach a block away from Sunset Theater and began to walk the rest of the way in the cold.

“So,” Caitlin said. “Is this just-hooking-up or is it something more?” 

Cisco groaned. “Do we have to talk about this now? If the day resets for some reason, I’ll just have to have this conversation with you _again_.” 

“Cisco, I just want to make sure neither of you get hurt,” Caitlin said. “You both like each other so much, we all know it. So if you’re just hooking up…" 

“We’re not just hooking up,” Cisco admitted. It felt good to tell Caitlin, to let her in on the secret that he’d been holding as his own in his heart. “I think this is…a relationship?” 

Caitlin grinned at him, her eyes light. “That’s all I wanted to know,” she said, pulling him in for a hug. “I won’t grill you anymore.” She ruffled his hair. “You deserve someone who loves you and makes you their priority.”

“ _You_ deserve that too,” he countered, hugging her back. “We’re just going to have to find you something besides bland dudes.” 

She shoved him away playfully. “I can’t pick who I love. And Julian was the opposite of bland,” she said. “Personality-wise, he was almost as bad as Harry.”

“Hey,” Cisco groused. “What’s wrong with Harry?”

“ _You know we can hear this entire conversation_ ,” Barry said in their ears. “ _Right?”_

“I haven’t said anything I’d regret,” Cisco replied, although he _had_ forgotten everyone’s comms were open.

“ _Funny, because Harry’s face is bright red and he’s glaring at everyone,_ ” said Barry.

“Aw Harry,” Cisco cooed into the comm. “Are you embarrassed to be my boyfriend?”

“ _We’re letting the day loop one more time,”_ Harry said. “ _I refuse to let this day be the one that everyone remembers.”_

“If you think this is the only day I’m going to embarrass you,” Cisco said, “I’ve got really bad news for you, babe.”

“ _Cisco, this is entertaining and all, but we’re almost at Cassandra de Leon’s apartment and Harry looks like he’s going to murder the next person who talks to him,”_ Barry said. “ _So maybe hold off on flirting until later?”_

Caitlin shook with silent laughter beside him. “We’re at the theater anyway,” she said. “Cisco’s going to be too distracted to cause any more trouble.”

They walked up to the theater entrance, where a stony-faced security guard watched them approach.

“Theater’s closed,” he said and went back to his book. 

“We’re here to see Mr. Rathburn,” said Cisco. “Can you let him know we’re here? My name is Cisco Ramon.”

“He expecting you?” the guard asked, reaching for his radio.

“He should be,” Cisco muttered.

The guard stepped away to have a brief conversation via his radio. He returned within a minute, still looking bored. “You can go in,” he said. “Mr. Rathburn’s office is on the fourth floor." 

Cisco led Caitlin the same way that she had originally led him three loops before, taking the elevator up to Rathburn’s plush office. The man himself was typing on the computer at his desk and looked up when they entered.

“Mr. Ramon. Ms. Snow. Welcome.”

“Dr. Snow,” Caitlin corrected.

“Excuse me, Dr. Snow,” Rathburn replied. “Please, have a seat.” Cisco and Caitlin seated themselves in the comfy chairs on the other side of Rathburn’s desk, and Cisco felt a strong sense of déjà vu, which he oddly hadn’t felt since that very first loop.

“You know why we’re here,” Cisco said.

Rathburn nodded. “I’m sorry that my feud with Cass has impacted your team. It was not my intention to trap anyone other than her in this loop.”

“Technically, even if we didn’t remember it, we’d still be trapped,” Cisco pointed out. “You just hadn’t intended any of us to _remember_.” 

“I failed to take into account humans from another Earth,” Rathburn said, steepling his fingers. “And other metahumans with time- or space-related abilities.”

In his earpiece, Cisco could vaguely hear Barry and Harry talking to Cassandra; he blocked it out, trying to stay focused. “What exactly is your ability?” he asked.

Rathburn stood, starting to pace. “Exactly what it looks like,” he said. “I create time loops. I can set parameters for them and anchor them in objects.” He tapped his fingers on the desk, clearly a person with a lot of nervous energy. “This is the first time I’ve used one intentionally.”

“Why haven’t we noticed any of your previous loops?” Cisco asked.

Rathburn shrugged. “Perhaps people are only affected if you come into contact with the object?” he suggested. “I still haven’t explored these to their full depth, so I’m not sure. But I believe recovering the painting from Cass that first loop is what initially began your own time loop.”

“So it was intended for De Leon, and we just got caught up in it because we interfered?” Cisco asked. “Uncool, man.”

Rathburn shrugged. “I’ve been waiting for her to steal this painting from me for ten years,” he said. “Ever since we separated, I knew she could not live without it. When I woke up three years ago with this ability, once I figured out how it worked, I knew I finally had what I needed to keep the painting safe.”

“It sounds like you didn’t mean to have us get involved,” Caitlin said, placating. “Why don’t you just take the time loop off of the painting? Can that painting really be worth all this?" 

Rathburn stopped pacing and gave them a hard look. “Have you ever been in love, Dr. Snow?” he asked, his voice sleepy-soft. He scratched his goatee before continuing. “Have you ever found someone who is the first thing you think of when you wake up and last thing before you fall asleep? Someone who makes you feel like you can do anything just because they exist?” He gestured to the painting. “Cass painted this for me when we first met. Every brush stroke, every loving detail, memorializes how it felt when she loved me.”

Caitlin was quiet beside him, her face sad. “We both know what that feels like,” Cisco spoke for her.

“This painting,” Rathburn said, “means the world to me.” He closed his eyes tightly against what were obviously painful memories.

“I think that’s the problem, isn’t it?” Caitlin said softly. “It means the world to you, but it also does to her.”

“Mr. Rathburn,” Cisco added, “how long has it been since you’ve seen Cassandra?”

“Not since we split,” Rathburn said, the loneliness and sadness in his voice telling Cisco everything he needed to know.

The cell phone lying on Rathburn’s desk began to vibrate with fervor. “Excuse me,” Rathburn said. “I have to take this.” He picked it up and walked out into the hall, leaving Caitlin and Cisco alone in his office with the painting.

Cisco eyed the painting, wondering how something so innocuous and worth so little money could create such a huge amount of trouble.

“Harry,” he said. “How are things on your end?”

There was a brief sound of shuffling and then a door closing from the comm, like Harry was excusing himself from a conversation. 

 _“De Leon is being difficult,”_ Harry said shortly. “ _She won’t agree to any sort of compromise.”_

Cisco was starting to envision a solution that could work. “Bring her here,” he said. Caitlin turned to look at him. “Trust me,” he added. “I think these two need to be in the same room. They haven’t seen each other in ten years, and there are still feelings there on both sides.”

 _“Ramon,”_ Harry said grouchily, “ _this is not The Parent Trap.”_

“This is _totally_ The Parent Trap,” Cisco countered. “Except instead of twins, we have a cursed painting." 

The long suffering sigh through the comm brought a delighted smile to Cisco’s face. Caitlin eyed him, also smiling slightly.

“ _’We’ do not have anything_ ,” Harry said, clearly just to be contrary.

“We have so many things, baby,” said Cisco.

“ _Ramon_ ,” Harry growled.

“ _Are you going to call him ‘Ramon’ forever, Harry?”_ Iris jumped in.

 _“Guys, I’m kind of in the middle of a conversation right now?”_ Barry pleaded. _“Cisco, can you flirt later?”_

“Sorry, dude,” Cisco said. Caitlin started giggling and hid her face in her arm.

With perfect timing, Rathburn walked back into the office. “Sorry about that,” he said. “The forecast has finally been accurately predicted and it was time to cancel today’s performance. I’m sure you can imagine what a headache that is." 

“And you’ve had to do this six times now,” Caitlin said.

“Yes, it does grow quite tedious,” Rathburn replied.

“What a shame,” Cisco added in a deadpan voice. “If only someone could end these loops easily.”

On the comm, Cisco could hear Harry and Barry convincing De Leon to join them at Sunset Theater to speak with Rathburn herself. She was very insistent about not coming. There was a slight cacophony of sound, like a sudden chase.

“ _We’ve got her!”_ Barry said over the comm. _“We’ll be there shortly."_  

Rathburn didn’t seem to realize that their attention was elsewhere. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have a lot to get done before I must head home to wait out the storm,” he said.

“I just have a few more questions about the painting,” Cisco said quickly. “After all, don’t you want to stop repeating this day as well? Cassandra isn’t going to stop stealing it, so there has to be another solution.”

Rathburn massaged his temples. “Cass will get tired,” he said, voice hollow. “She always gets tired.”

Red lightning burst into the room, transforming back into Barry, Harry, and Cassandra de Leon. De Leon was wearing a metahuman restraint and looked furious. She froze when she saw Rathburn, who was staring at her like he’d never expected to see her ever again. 

“Basil?” she said softly.

“Cass,” he replied, equally soft. “You’re looking…well…”

Cisco looked between them, trying to wrack his brain for what to say to end this ridiculous standoff. To his surprise, Harry was the one to move to stand between them.

“Neither of you are leaving this room until you resolve this,” he said firmly, pointing at the painting. “I refuse to repeat this day again because you can’t settle a property dispute. If I have to wake up with my cheek pressed to a worktable one more time, I am not going to be responsible for my actions.”

“It’s not a _property dispute_ ,” De Leon said hotly.

Simultaneously, Rathburn said, “that painting is not just _property_." 

“Good,” said Harry. “Excellent start. Get to it.” He snapped his fingers at them, like he did with Cisco when he wasn’t doing something in the lab quickly enough. 

“Cassandra,” Barry said with the air of a very patient man. “Why don’t you tell Basil why you want the painting.”

De Leon couldn’t tear her eyes from Rathburn. “It was the first painting I ever created where I felt like myself,” she said softly. “You gave me so much strength, so much courage, that when I painted you, it all came out on the canvas.” She sighed longingly. “My art doesn’t sing anymore, Basil. I need the painting to get that back.”

Rathburn’s eyes watered, walking over to the painting and glancing up at it. “Cass, this has been the only thing I’ve had left of you for ten years. You took everything else, when you left…I can’t let you take this, too.”

Cisco watched the scene unfold, smug with the realization that he’d been right – they were definitely still crazy about each other.

“I didn’t even think you cared when I left,” Cassandra said.

“Are you insane?” Basil asked. “I slept on your side of the bed for months, hoping to remember what you smelled like. I yearned for you, Cass.” He smiled at her sadly. 

“I left because I thought you didn’t love me,” Cassandra told him, her voice softening. “You’d become so cold, so hostile. You barely spoke to me for the last month we were together.”

“ _Sounds like Cisco was right on the money about their relationship,”_ Iris said over the comm. 

“You can just call me the love wizard,” Cisco announced triumphantly, causing Rathburn and De Leon to pause in their confessional and give him a Look. He waved at them. “Sorry, team members on the comm, long story. Continue." 

Across the room, Harry mouthed “love wizard” and rolled his eyes expressively. Cisco blew him a kiss.

Rathburn stepped into De Leon’s space, taking her hands in his. “I’m sorry I made you feel that way,” he said in his deep voice. “I had just invested in that startup and it was a huge gamble…I thought I’d thrown my career away.” He watched her intensely. “I’m not the same person I was ten years ago, Cass.”

“Neither am I,” De Leon said with a slight laugh. “Three years ago, I learned I could move large objects almost instantaneously with my mind.”

“I told you she was telekinetic,” Cisco hissed to Caitlin, who gave him a thumbs up.

Rathburn smiled at her. “And as you know, three years ago I began to be able to trap people in time loops,” he shared. “At least that asshole Harrison Wells was good for something.” Harry pulled his hat lower on his head as though trying to hide his face, but from the look Rathburn shot him, it was clear he hadn’t succeeded.

“So here’s the thing,” Cisco said. “You two both still care about each other. The fight over the painting is essentially that you both treasure it from your relationship. So instead of stealing the painting and resetting the day over and over again, why not get dinner?” 

Rathburn looked at De Leon. “Dinner?” he echoed.

De Leon swallowed and thought about it. “Dinner,” she confirmed.

“See, no paintings need to be stolen,” Caitlin said. “Mission accomplished.”

“Take that time loop curse off the painting immediately,” Harry added. “I’m not leaving this room until everything is back to normal.”

“It _is_ interesting how Harrison Wells is supposed to be dead, but he just showed up in my office for the second time,” Rathburn said.

“Dr. Wells and I are cousins,” Harry said flatly. “Remove the curse.”

Rathburn sighed. He turned around and studied the painting a final time. “If we get dinner, you won’t try to steal from me anymore?” he asked De Leon.

“That depends on what happens after dinner,” De Leon replied. “But I could be amenable to drawing up a custody agreement even if this doesn’t work out.”

Rathburn studied her for a moment like he was trying to read whether or not she was telling the truth. Something about her expression must have convinced him; a moment later, he reached over and pressed his palm against the lower right corner of the painting.

There was a flash of light, almost blinding. Cisco shielded his eyes from the glare.

“It’s gone,” said Rathburn. “Time should return to normal.”

“We’re finally going to get to move on to November 16th?” Cisco asked. “It’s a miracle.” He felt exhausted, like his body finally realized it was running on pure fumes and adrenaline.

“That reminds me,” Rathburn said, looking at his watch. “We’d better get out of here before the storm starts.” He glanced at De Leon. “I don’t suppose you’d like to come back to my house for dinner…tonight?" 

She pressed her lips together in a smile. “It might be hard to get home afterwards, with all that snow,” she murmured.

“Cool, sounds like this is our cue to leave!” Cisco announced. “It was great to meet you both. Don’t become supervillains.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Harry told them, heading immediately for the door, “but I really hope I never see either of you ever again.” He strode out.

“Is there a…right way to take that?” De Leon asked. Cisco threw her a grin and ran after Harry, Barry and Caitlin on their heels. They caught up to Harry, and Cisco opened a breach back to S.T.A.R. Labs.

* * *

“That felt weirdly anticlimactic,” Barry mused once they were back in the cortex. 

“You just feel that way because you didn’t get to fight anyone,” Iris reassured him.

Cisco snuck out to locate Caitlin’s rye whiskey; he returned waving the bottle. “It’s no champagne, but we should drink to a job well done,” he announced 

Barry took one look at him and then disappeared in a flash, reappearing with a case of champagne. “Believe it or not, some of the stores are still open,” he said. “The snow’s starting to come down though.”

“You always have to one-up me,” Cisco muttered.

They scrounged some glasses from the break room and poured glasses of champagne for the team. Even though he’d lived through six straight days being snowed in with these people, Cisco looked around him as they toasted and his heart felt enormous. These were his people, and there was no better family to get snowed in with.

After sharing a glass of champagne with the rest of them, Joe and Cecile asked Cisco to breach them home to enjoy the snow from the house; he happily did so, and reappeared in the cortex to find a small-scale migration in progress.

“What’s going on?” he asked, watching Caitlin and Iris gathering blankets and bottles of champagne.

“We decided to move to the upstairs offices to watch the snow,” Barry told him with a grin.

They made their way up to the office levels, the ones above ground with windows, bringing bottles of champagne and lots of blankets. They picked the office that had once belonged to Wells Prime – after two years, some of the trauma behind that had faded – and the huge floor to ceiling windows were perfect for snow-watching. It also had a seating area that still contained a dusty couch, some chairs, and a coffee table. Caitlin camped herself on the floor right by the windows in a pile of blankets, while Barry and Iris curled up on the couch together, giggling about something couple-y.

Cisco glanced at Harry and gave him a small smile before settling with Caitlin into her blanket nest. He took a gulp of his second glass of champagne. “This is nice,” he said, watching out of the corner of his eye as Harry settled his long leanness into one of the small chairs. The snow outside was falling steadily, the whole city blanketed in white. “But I’m glad I don’t have to live this day again.”

“Tell me about it,” Harry muttered.

“It can’t have been that bad,” Barry pointed out, pulling Iris against him and petting her hair. “You had to live the same day over and over, but look at what happened with you guys. None of us thought either of you would ever make a move.” 

Harry glared at him and drank his entire glass of champagne in one gulp, gesturing for the bottle. “Snow, I need more—” Caitlin dutifully passed along the champagne bottle and Harry refilled his glass to the brim before drinking it again. “It wasn’t…the worst thing that could have happened,” he finally allowed.

“Talking about his feelings makes Harry grouchy,” said Cisco. Harry turned and leveled him with a glare. “What? Are you saying it’s not true?”

“Ramon,” Harry said warningly.

“I think what Barry’s saying is that maybe remembering the loops was annoying, but it also gave you guys a chance to get past your defenses,” Caitlin said, her eyes shining. Outside, the sun was just about setting, and the room was slowly darkening around them, but nobody seemed to care.

“I do have to say, it was nice to end an issue with metas with something other than fighting or capturing them,” Cisco said finally. “Hopefully those two will live long happy lives together and use their powers for good and not evil.” 

By the time they were on their third bottle of champagne, Cisco felt comfortably tipsy. He leaned against the cold window, still watching the snow fall, only visible in the industrial-strength lights that surrounded S.T.A.R. Labs. It was dark by then, and Iris and Barry had retreated back down to the cortex. They’d kept the office lights dark to better watch the snow, and Caitlin was snoring slightly, curled up on the floor in her nest of blankets. 

Harry had wandered off while the group was all together, but he returned carrying the bottle of whiskey and silently sat himself next to Cisco, wincing slightly as he dropped down to the ground. Cisco held out his empty glass and Harry dutifully poured him some whiskey without a word.

Cisco studied Harry’s profile in the lights shining in from outside. Champagne always made him feel giddy, like his entire body was fizzing, and having Harry nearby gave much the same effect. He broke into a sloppy grin. “You’re so handsome,” he said.

Harry frowned. “You’re drunk,” he said. 

Cisco shook his head. “Tipsy,” he corrected. “But I always think you look handsome. Take the compliment, why don’t you?”

Harry moved close enough that Cisco could feel the heat radiating off of him. “I’m not good at that,” he said. “Or any of this, really.” He didn’t meet Cisco’s eyes again. “I’m not very demonstrative, Ramon." 

“Hey,” Cisco said, reaching over and taking his hand. “I don’t care about that. If my teasing bothers you, say something, but I don’t know if you’ve realized this – I like you just the way you are. If you turned into some pod person who didn’t act like a jackass all the time, I don’t know what I’d do.”

Harry finally looked at him and Cisco beamed a smile at him. “Good,” Harry said after a moment. “I just…wanted to make sure you were okay with that.”

“I’m going to collect a list of terrible nicknames just for you,” Cisco promised. 

“I’d like to see you try, Buttercup,” Harry retorted, his mouth twisting into a grin. Cisco gave a bark of laughter and leaned over to press their mouths together, almost spilling his whiskey in the process.

Harry slowly pulled away from him and rescued their glasses of whiskey, placing them on the floor and then pulling Cisco in for more kisses. The contrast between the cold radiating off of the window and Harry’s warm body was almost as intoxicating as the alcohol.

Caitlin made a small noise and stirred in her cocoon. Cisco and Harry broke apart, Cisco grinning like an idiot and Harry with a small, answering smile. They turned to look at Caitlin, who was rubbing her eyes and watching them.

“If you two get to Barry and Iris levels of sickening, Killer Frost says she’s quitting this team,” she said sleepily. 

“Maybe Killer Frost needs to get laid,” Cisco suggested.

“Do _not_ give her ideas,” Caitlin groaned.

Harry pushed himself back up to standing, patting Cisco lightly on the top of the head. “I just came by to offer Cisco some whiskey,” he said. “You two have fun.” A moment later, he was gone, taking the whiskey with him. Caitlin giggled.

“You weren’t sleeping through any of that, were you?” accused Cisco.

“You two are adorable,” she said instead of answering. “I’m really happy for you.” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “I find it hilarious how embarrassed he is.”

Cisco grinned conspiratorially. “Me too,” he said. “This is going to be the most fun _ever_.”

He left a few minutes later to track down Harry. He wasn’t in the cortex, the break room, the workshop, or the speed lab, so Cisco finally took the elevator down to the lower level and knocked on the door to Harry’s room.

Harry opened it and peered out at him.

“You know,” Cisco said, wiggling his eyebrows. “I have a bigger bed, and I can breach us straight there.”

Harry looked around as if to make sure they were alone. He pulled Cisco into the room, closing the door behind him and leaning in to press a rough kiss under Cisco’s ear. Cisco was mortified at the noise he made, but Harry grinned like a shark and ran his teeth gently along his earlobe. “Are you propositioning me, Ramon?” 

“You freaking bet I’m propositioning you,” Cisco said. Harry smirked and kissed his mouth, pushing him up against the wall. 

They did eventually make it to Cisco’s apartment, but not until after some serious attempts to discover the durability of the cot in Harry’s room first.

* * *

Cisco’s eyes blinked open to sunlight streaming in through the bay windows in his room. There was no loud pop music, and Harry was a long, comfortable warmth curled around him, his arms pulling Cisco in close.

Cisco reached for his phone, realizing he’d forgotten to set his alarm. The time read 9:03 on November 16th.

“Thank god,” he said, only then realizing that he’d never quite given up the possibility that they would still wake up in another loop. He breathed out a sigh of relief and turned in Harry’s arms to press a kiss against his slack mouth. Harry made a grouchy noise in his sleep and wrinkled his nose. “We’re free!” Cisco announced.

“Cisco,” Harry mumbled, turning over and burying his face in the pillow. “I don’t know if you realize this, but I spent the last six nights essentially asleep on a table. I’m sleeping for the next year. Don’t bother me.”

Cisco grinned, poking him in the side. Harry growled but didn’t move. 

Cisco pulled himself out of bed and made his way into the kitchen, checking Twitter as he went. Most schools and businesses in Central City were closed due to the blizzard. They’d received 15 inches of snow, and when Cisco looked out of his window onto the sunny day, the whole world sparkled with white.

He opened the Team Flash group chat and sent out, “ _We’re taking a snow day. Call if you need anything.”_ Then he crawled back into bed with Harry, curling into his warmth and pressing his nose against the back of his neck.

It was finally November 16th.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so so SO much for reading and being so welcoming! I've never felt so embraced by a fandom before and this has been an absolute delight to post. I have more fic coming for you as well - I just started writing a new one and I already have another 40k+ monster I'm rewriting, so you should see another thing from me within the next few weeks.
> 
> I hope you've all enjoyed this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it and sharing it with you! And please don't hesitate to come hang out with me on [tumblr](https://saucy-kate.tumblr.com/).


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